When we last left our hero (such as I am), he had gone through the bottom third of the NHL's backup goaltenders. It was a motley crew (Crue?) of prospects and disgraced former starters that I believe we were all happy to leave behind.
Now, we move onto the middle of the pack. Remembering that the rankings are in order of how boned a fanbase would be if suddenly the backup became the starter, these guys are the point where you're worried, but aren't quite jumping up and down on the panic button. Onward!
20. Michael Leighton, Flyers. Leighton is an interesting character. He's got Finals experience and he's shown the ability to play well. Unfortunately, he's 31 and he spent basically the last two seasons in the minor leagues. I think there is some talent there, putting him just ahead of the panic button folks, but not much.
19. Nikolai Khabibulin, Oilers. I don't know if I'm alone here, but I distinctly remember Khabi being really good. As it turns out, the stats don't bear that out; he's a .500 career goalie (328-328) with a GAA north of 2.70 and a SV% of .910. That's serviceable, but not great, and definitely not going to stand up behind that Oilers defense. Given how young Dubnyk is, however, Oilers fans might be seeing more of the Great Wall than they want.
18. Jhonas Enroth, Sabres. His name is Jhonas, he's here in the goal. While he's not Ryan Miller, his workload has grown over the last two seasons, but he's improved his numbers along with it, posting entirely respectable backup numbers of a 2.70 GAA and a .917 SV%. I see good things down the road for him.
17. Ray Emery, Blackhawks. I'll say this for Emery, he knows how to pick offensive teams. He's never been the best goalie, but he plays just well enough for his team to win regardless of where he goes. Interestingly, he and Crawford have the smallest stats disparity: last season, Crawford's GAA was .09 lower and his SV% was .03 higher.
16. Richard Bachman, Stars. First off, I love his name; it's the pen name under which Stephen King wrote The Long Walk, The Running Man, and Thinner. Second, he had a very solid year for his rookie seasons, starting 15 games for a Dallas team that was competitive for a significant portion of the season, and posting a 2.77 GAA and a .910 SV%. Third, he's barely 25, and has plenty of time to improve.
Before moving on, I'd like to remind people that this is the halfway point of this project. Everyone mentioned after this is in the top half of the league's backup goaltenders. That is all.
15. Justin Peters, Hurricanes. In 6 starts last season, Peters posted a respectable 2.48 GAA, but backed that up with a .931 SV%. I understand about sample sizes, really I do. But what this says to me is that the talent is there, and its totally possible that we'll see Peters a little more often this season as he proves that he can be trusted with the extra work.
14. Anton Khudobin, Bruins. Totally another call based on potential, but this is like Justin Peters times a million. Khudobin has played in 7 games in his career, winning 5 of them, and has posted a 1.32 GAA, a .961 SV%, and a shutout while he was at it. Damn. I'm unclear why he hasn't gotten more of a chance, but maybe this is why I don't run an NHL team.
13. Mathieu Garon, Lightning. Garon's numbers for the last few seasons haven't been great: his best GAA in the last three seasons was 2.72, while his best SV% was .903. However, these numbers came from two seasons with the Blue Jackets, and last season behind a Lightning defense that gave up the most goals in the league. Garon, with ANYTHING resembling a defense in front of him, can be a very solid goalie. With Lindback in his first season as a starter and a lot of new faces on defense, Garon shouldn't get TOO comfortable on the bench.
12. Michal Neuvirth, Capitals. Pity Michal Neuvirth. He had a DAMN good year in 2010-11: 27 wins, a 2.45 GAA, and a .914 SV%. That's usually good enough for you to keep your job. Unfortunately, the acquisition of Tomas Vokoun bumped him to the bench, and an inconsistent Caps team didn't do him any favors in that role. Now he's backing up Braden Holtby, but he's still only 24 and should only get better.
11. Scott Clemmensen, Panthers. I like Clemmensen and have for a while. The talent is there, but mostly, he's very steady. He'll give you a GAA a little over 2.50 and post a SV% somewhere north of .910. For me, that's entirely fine. Plus, the veteran presence in goal (and the fact that Panthers fans aren't seeing Jose Three-or-more when Clemmensen is in goal) means that there's little cause for concern when he takes the ice.
We're two-thirds of the way done, so you know who is in the top 10. But in what order? Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion: same Bat-time, same Bat-channel., and let me know what you think in the comments.
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