Blackwood/Vanecek/We Really Need to Move On/Goalie Thread

[swiiscompos]

He dipped for a while after he got sent down after playing really well for us. Young player I assume got a confidence hit from being sidelined by Blackwood after standing on his head for us.

It makes the fact that he’s first in GAA even more impressive.

 

[Maine Fan]

How do you feel about Vitek Vanecek today vs. his opening game on Oct. 15, after surrendering five goals and posting a lousy .773% save percentage in the NJ Devils' home-opener loss to the Red Wings. This was only 2 days after Blackwood opened the season giving up 4 goals to Philly. Looked like a terrible season ahead. But Vitek has surprised the NJ Devils and the NHL. We are where we are as a team IMO because of Vanecek. Sure the rest of the team has also surprised us but without Vanecek in goal we would not have the wins we have and the team might not have the confidence they have today. Was Blackwood going to do this for the Devils? Not a chance. Thanks and hats off to Vitek.

 

[Bleedred]

How do you feel about Vitek Vanecek today vs. his opening game on Oct. 15, after surrendering five goals and posting a lousy .773% save percentage in the NJ Devils' home-opener loss to the Red Wings. This was only 2 days after Blackwood opened the season giving up 4 goals to Philly. Looked like a terrible season ahead. But Vitek has surprised the NJ Devils and the NHL. We are where we are as a team IMO because of Vanecek. Sure the rest of the team has also surprised us but without Vanecek in goal we would not have the wins we have and the team might not have the confidence they have today. Was Blackwood going to do this for the Devils? Not a chance. Thanks and hats off to Vitek.

I said Vitek was probably a top-3 player on the team in the month of January, but I'm gonna go a step higher and say he's been the 2nd best on the team in the month of January or even since Christmas, behind the obvious Hughes. And he STOLE the game last night and you could argue a couple others.

9 wins in a row and 9-1-0 since Christmas/after being pulled in Carolina, with a save percentage of over .930% (haven't exactly calculated it). And he's 9th in the league in GSAx, but probably top 3 or 4 (If I had to guess) since Christmas.

The GDT in the game he was pulled in Carolina was BRUTAL. A lot of people were ready to turn on him or had already started to turn on him. There was a call that we need more Blackwood because he's the only goalie on the roster with ''Elite upside''.

I think we're 2-3-2 in games Vitek hasn't played since that night?

Blackwood had the wins in Florida and LA, with OT/shootout losses against Carolina and in Seattle and regulation losses at home against Boston and in Nashville. And Schmid had the loss against St. Louis.

I don't even think the goalie numbers since then for Blackwood/Schmid combined are that bad, but they're not touching Vitek's numbers since. Not even on the same sheet of ice.

Vitek is a .932% since that game he was pulled in Carolina, Blackwood is a .902% since coming back from injury, a little better than his last 3 seasons average.

When you include the game Schmid played since then, the Devils save percentage is .893% in games without Vanecek and .932% for Vanecek.

Once again, this is the most important acquisition we've made in years. Not the best, but the most important.

And with that, I'm not completely convinced he's a long term solution here or that he'll be this good next year, but he's been outstanding this year. Not a Vezina canddiate, but an unsung hero for sure.

 

[Bleedred]

For the first time this year I think I'm okay with just keeping Blackwood as the backup for the rest of the year, so long as he continues only playing as much (or little) as he has the last month. And so long as they aren't gonna get cute by playing him a string of games as soon as Vitek has a couple of bad games. It's pretty clear he's a lame duck here no matter what, with his expensive qualifying offer being too much for what he's brought the last 3 seasons. We can't afford that in non-throwaway, salary cap ceiling years.

I'd rather roll the dice with him than actually trade things for Reimer. Reimer has been shit for a while now, despite still being significantly better than Kahkonen. There's a good chance Reimer could come here and play well in a backup role. He's not really a starter or even 1b anymore. He's had good years as a starter, but they're almost never followed up with another consecutive solid year. And that's what's happening now. Solid last season as a starter, miserable this season as the starter.

He's also about to turn 35 years old, so who knows how much more he even has left in the tank?

 

[KovalchukFistPump]

For the first time this year I think I'm okay with just keeping Blackwood as the backup for the rest of the year, so long as he continues only playing as much (or little) as he has the last month. And so long as they aren't gonna get cute by playing him a string of games as soon as Vitek has a couple of bad games. It's pretty clear he's a lame duck here no matter what, with his expensive qualifying offer being too much for what he's brought the last 3 seasons. We can't afford that in non-throwaway, salary cap ceiling years.

I'd rather roll the dice with him than actually trade things for Reimer. Reimer has been shit for a while now, despite still being significantly better than Kahkonen. There's a good chance Reimer could come here and play well in a backup role. He's not really a starter or even 1b anymore. He's had good years as a starter, but they're almost never followed up with another consecutive solid year. And that's what's happening now. Solid last season as a starter, miserable this season as the starter.

He's also about to turn 35 years old, so who knows how much more he even has left in the tank?

I would bump Blackwood down to the #3 after the deadline when rosters expand (that's still a thing right?). Let's see if Schmid is ready for a backup role next year and there is a chance he gives us a better chance to win than Blackwood.

 

[Bleedred]

I would bump Blackwood down to the #3 after the deadline when rosters expand (that's still a thing right?). Let's see if Schmid is ready for a backup role next year and there is a chance he gives us a better chance to win than Blackwood.

That's also a possibility.

I'd rather roll the dice on Blackwood or Schmid than trade for someone like Reimer, who has been blowing a whole lot of smoke lately the last couple of months and looks about ready to grenade.

Blackwood with the amount of games he's been playing lately isn't gonna hurt us much, unless when Vitek starts to struggle they start giving him more games than they were. That's what Laviolette started doing last year by playing Samsonov more than Vitek. And the Caps started winning a lot of games, but Samsonov's play actually somehow got even worse lol. I remember them winning all kinds of games where he allowed 3 and 4 goals, where he still sucked, but they were somehow 13-14 Devils-ing their way to wins with Samsonov.

Even if that did happen, Blackwood would probably serve up one of his famous clunkers after a game or two like he did against Boston, after they gave him two starts in a row after he returned/Vitek got bombed in Carolina and he won the Florida game and then got bombed by Boston the very next game.

 

[Bleedred]

It looks like we only have 4 back to backs left for the rest of the year, unless my eyes have betrayed me. one set in February, 2 in March and one in April.

We have 33 games left

Is it really necessary for Blackwood to get more than about 8 more starts?

I feel they'll probably start him against Seattle after the break, if only so he doesn't have to sit for more than 2 weeks between starts. They could always play him in the first game back instead against Vancouver, due to his record and play against them, but I have a hard time seeing them give him the first start back from the break,

That would be 54 starts and 57 games for Vitek this year. As we get closer to the end of the year and have everything all completely locked up, I could understand if maybe they sit him for a few more games. I don't see much of a reason for there to be more than 10 more starts for Blackwood over these last 33 games.

 

[Bleedred]

And if Blackwood is having a tough night then I see no reasons for Vitek to come in for relief, which he’s done twice in the 3rd period this year. The other was for injury.

Unless he allows 2 goals in the first few minutes of the game, I see no reason to get him outta there and have Vitek come in for mop up duty.

That to me is just using him unnecessarily and giving him more work than needed.

It’s fine they’ve already done it twice, but no need for it down the stretch.

 

[Maine Fan]

I said Vitek was probably a top-3 player on the team in the month of January, but I'm gonna go a step higher and say he's been the 2nd best on the team in the month of January or even since Christmas, behind the obvious Hughes. And he STOLE the game last night and you could argue a couple others.

9 wins in a row and 9-1-0 since Christmas/after being pulled in Carolina, with a save percentage of over .930% (haven't exactly calculated it). And he's 9th in the league in GSAx, but probably top 3 or 4 (If I had to guess) since Christmas.

The GDT in the game he was pulled in Carolina was BRUTAL. A lot of people were ready to turn on him or had already started to turn on him. There was a call that we need more Blackwood because he's the only goalie on the roster with ''Elite upside''.

I think we're 2-3-2 in games Vitek hasn't played since that night?

Blackwood had the wins in Florida and LA, with OT/shootout losses against Carolina and in Seattle and regulation losses at home against Boston and in Nashville. And Schmid had the loss against St. Louis.

I don't even think the goalie numbers since then for Blackwood/Schmid combined are that bad, but they're not touching Vitek's numbers since. Not even on the same sheet of ice.

Vitek is a .932% since that game he was pulled in Carolina, Blackwood is a .902% since coming back from injury, a little better than his last 3 seasons average.

When you include the game Schmid played since then, the Devils save percentage is .893% in games without Vanecek and .932% for Vanecek.

Once again, this is the most important acquisition we've made in years. Not the best, but the most important.

And with that, I'm not completely convinced he's a long term solution here or that he'll be this good next year, but he's been outstanding this year. Not a Vezina canddiate, but an unsung hero for sure.

To be honest, Bleedred, I am not convinced Vanecek can continue to perform at the same level as we go forward. He has lots of support from the team to help him on off nights but is that enough? The one thing I am sure of, with 49 games played this season, more than half of the season games, I have had more enjoyment as a Devils fan, to-date, than in the past years since the Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment Group bought the NJ Devils and Everything that went with the sale. This ownership group is not that interested in the Devils being a Cup Winner. Sure they would like that, but as long as the NJ Devils' fans fill the seats with the schitty products that they have put on the ice as a team and staff, they are happy. The arena is the cash cow for them. Their other investments have been good for them. Bob Kraft bought in, he owns the NE Patriots and the soccer team, the Revolution, and all of Foxborough, Massachusetts, I say that to demonstrate the success of the Entertainment Group and not necessarily the NJ Devils. But my point is that because we have Vanecek and his record and the rest of the team is playing with confidence because they are winning with a goalie that can consistently win. It has been a fun season to-date. Could Blackwood deliver this? Has he ever delivered a winning season? Best plan for Fitz is to accept we will lose Blackwood for nothing and will have to get another goalie. Maybe that goalie is in house, not Blackwood.

The NJ Devils are back as us old guys and gals remember this team in NJ before Harris and company.

My granddaughter, she is 18, and my grandson, he is 16, they love the Devils and enjoy going to games but they don't have the memories of the Marty Brodeur teams, maybe a little, not like us.

I give a lot of credit to the play of Vitek. The Devil are on a winning program towards the future with Fitz.

Remember when Devils fans, the experts, HF guys, said that when the Devils' start winning consistently they will change coaches. Yeah, really? Why? Fitz knows what he is doing.

Let's Go Devils & Vitek Vanecek

 

[Bleedred]

To be honest, Bleedred, I am not convinced Vanecek can continue to perform at the same level as we go forward. He has lots of support from the team to help him on off nights but is that enough? The one thing I am sure of, with 49 games played this season, more than half of the season games, I have had more enjoyment as a Devils fan, to-date, than in the past years since the Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment Group bought the NJ Devils and Everything that went with the sale. This ownership group is not that interested in the Devils being a Cup Winner. Sure they would like that, but as long as the NJ Devils' fans fill the seats with the schitty products that they have put on the ice as a team and staff, they are happy. The arena is the cash cow for them. Their other investments have been good for them. Bob Kraft bought in, he owns the NE Patriots and the soccer team, the Revolution, and all of Foxborough, Massachusetts, I say that to demonstrate the success of the Entertainment Group and not necessarily the NJ Devils. But my point is that because we have Vanecek and his record and the rest of the team is playing with confidence because they are winning with a goalie that can consistently win. It has been a fun season to-date. Could Blackwood deliver this? Has he ever delivered a winning season? Best plan for Fitz is to accept we will lose Blackwood for nothing and will have to get another goalie. Maybe that goalie is in house, not Blackwood.

The NJ Devils are back as us old guys and gals remember this team in NJ before Harris and company.

My granddaughter, she is 18, and my grandson, he is 16, they love the Devils and enjoy going to games but they don't have the memories of the Marty Brodeur teams, maybe a little, not like us.

I give a lot of credit to the play of Vitek. The Devil are on a winning program towards the future with Fitz.

Remember when Devils fans, the experts, HF guys, said that when the Devils' start winning consistently they will change coaches. Yeah, really? Why? Fitz knows what he is doing.

Let's Go Devils & Vitek Vanecek

Agree with everything but the ownership part.

I think they're definitely interested in building a cup winner.

They've also been eating Ray Shero's contract they gave him which had years left on it. I think if they weren't interested in winning cups they wouldn't have fired Shero (and I don't think he necessarily should have been fired, but that's for a different topic) and they've allowed Fitz to make the moves necessary, like buying out Schneider's remaining years, as well as Dougie, Jack, Nico deals, among others.

And for what it's worth and I've mentioned this in the past, the Devils actually stay at nicer, most costlier hotels on the road than a lot of other teams. If there's a 5 star hotel in the city they're playing in, they more often than not stay there. At a Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons, etc.

Many other teams are staying at the Westin, Hilton, Hyatt, 4 star hotels like that.

There's other teams that get the building along with the team, I'm pretty sure Devils ownership is not unique in that aspect.

Ownership has done a fine job IMO, but there were maybe some moves along the way by those in charge (*cough* Lou's last two years which were Harris/Blitzer's first two *cough*), some Lou, some Shero.

Ownership has provided and there doesn't appear to be an internal cap of any kind. Can't say the same for every team in the league.

And I'm pretty sure they dump a lot of money in the Sixers as well, and yet they don't even own that arena.

 

[Guttersniped]

Appreciably change their fortunes in terms of the playoff chase no, give you the incremental improvement you complain we never saw last year, a lot more likely.

The narrative on ‘being worse for three straight years’ changes a little if a healthy Bernier/Mac tandem gets us to 80-ish points as opposed to the dumpster fire that was last year with 50/82 games being started by castoffs and rookies, and the 32 that Blackwood and Bernier did play, they were nursing injury in a lot of them. Until Blackwood came back for the final couple of games last year Nico Daws led the team in starts, this year he’s a poor #1B in Utica

Yeah, we for sure would have had more points with a healthy Bernier rather than one that started the season with a LBI that deteriorated until required season-ended (career ending?) surgery after 8 starts. That’s just a fact.

Also, who cares? What does it does it matter?

The whole point of vaguely being “better” last season, of “not being a doormat”, was that was supposed to be the first step to even greater success. Learning to walk before we run, etc.

Instead we crawled for another season and now skipped directly to running, which actually works just fine too.

There’s 32 teams now and the NHL is incredibly competitive. It took 100 points to make the playoffs in the East last season.

I don’t know in the end just how rewarding more points would have even been, Detroit fans don’t seem too stoked to be 10th in the East.

And bad goaltending is frustrating. Watching Fitz try to fix the goaltending two years in a row and have Crawford’s surprise retirement & injuries ruin it have been some of toughest blows for me.

When I heard about both Blackwood’s and Bernier’s injuries in the pre-season I knew our season was blown because for years the default setting on NJD’s goaltending has been Worst Case Scenario.

Shero never addressed the defense. Ruff’s system was really questionable defensively until this season.

I mean, drink this monstrosity in Nov 2021, a game I still remember (far too vividly) sitting at thinking “please kill me if we’re going to play defense like this”. Good times.



(The recap even captures the on-the-edge-of-your-seat thrills of our failed Coach’s Challenge. *Chef’s Kiss*)

Yet, it’s also really satisfying having solid goal-tending and that’s a thing.



The debate just gets weird about denying how much goalies affect games though. Gimpy Cory was extraordinarily worse than elite healthy Cory, we were at the mercy of Jekyll and Hyde for years.

Goalies matter as a position, that’s kind of an obvious point. People are being a bit weirdly obtuse about that to defend Blackwood, who’s been better this season but not actually particularly good or fully healthy for very long. To me he’s already Dead Man Walking, I’m just curious what Fitz does at the position.

 

[Maine Fan]

11 hours ago — Vitek Vanecek has started referring to himself in the third person during interviews: 'I'm really proud of the Vitek.'

Vitek Vanecek has started referring to himself in the third person during interviews: ‘I’m really proud of the Vitek. I hope he gonna keep going.’

Former Capitals goaltender Vitek Vanecek is absolutely on fire right now. The 27-year-old Czech is currently riding a nine-game winning streak for…

russianmachineneverbreaks.com

11 hours ago — Vitek Vanecek has started referring to himself in the third person during interviews: 'I'm really proud of the Vitek.

 

[My3Sons]

11 hours ago — Vitek Vanecek has started referring to himself in the third person during interviews: 'I'm really proud of the Vitek.'

Vitek Vanecek has started referring to himself in the third person during interviews: ‘I’m really proud of the Vitek. I hope he gonna keep going.’

Former Capitals goaltender Vitek Vanecek is absolutely on fire right now. The 27-year-old Czech is currently riding a nine-game winning streak for…

russianmachineneverbreaks.com

11 hours ago — Vitek Vanecek has started referring to himself in the third person during interviews: 'I'm really proud of the Vitek.

As a non-native English speaker you have to wonder if it makes it easier for him in some way or he’s having fun with it?

 

[Maine Fan]

As a non-native English speaker you have to wonder if it makes it easier for him in some way or he’s having fun with it?

Hi, not sure. He apparently hasn't done it before now, it references January 2023 nine consecutive wins.

 

[Triumph]

Yeah, we for sure would have had more points with a healthy Bernier rather than one that started the season with a LBI that deteriorated until required season-ended (career ending?) surgery after 8 starts. That’s just a fact.

Also, who cares? What does it does it matter?

The whole point of vaguely being “better” last season, of “not being a doormat”, was that was supposed to be the first step to even greater success. Learning to walk before we run, etc.

Instead we crawled for another season and now skipped directly to running, which actually works just fine too.

There’s 32 teams now and the NHL is incredibly competitive. It took 100 points to make the playoffs in the East last season.

I don’t know in the end just how rewarding more points would have even been, Detroit fans don’t seem too stoked to be 10th in the East.

And bad goaltending is frustrating. Watching Fitz try to fix the goaltending two years in a row and have Crawford’s surprise retirement & injuries ruin it have been some of toughest blows for me.

When I heard about both Blackwood’s and Bernier’s injuries in the pre-season I knew our season was blown because for years the default setting on NJD’s goaltending has been Worst Case Scenario.

Shero never addressed the defense. Ruff’s system was really questionable defensively until this season.

I mean, drink this monstrosity in Nov 2021, a game I still remember (far too vividly) sitting at thinking “please kill me if we’re going to play defense like this”. Good times.

(The recap even captures the on-the-edge-of-your-seat thrills of our failed Coach’s Challenge. *Chef’s Kiss*)

Yet, it’s also really satisfying having solid goal-tending and that’s a thing.

The debate just gets weird about denying how much goalies affect games though. Gimpy Cory was extraordinarily worse than elite healthy Cory, we were at the mercy of Jekyll and Hyde for years.

Goalies matter as a position, that’s kind of an obvious point. People are being a bit weirdly obtuse about that to defend Blackwood, who’s been better this season but not actually particularly good or fully healthy for very long. To me he’s already Dead Man Walking, I’m just curious what Fitz does at the position.

Yeah, the thing that has been largely absent from the defense this year are the wide open mid to long range one timers where the Devils have been pinned to one side of the ice - your example has one timers from close in, where the goalie truly has no realistic chance. Those are happening less and so the goalies are having more of a chance on some stuff, but my god, the number of just awful clunky goals last year. I'm surprised Bleed isn't in here talking about stoppable goal rates because that seems pretty easy to compare - I guess it's just a chore because the Devils played so many goalies.

 

[Guadana]

Obviously I agree with all of this

And I don't see any way he's back next year, as the worst one year deal in the league next year would be whatever one year deal pays him his qualifying offer. He's not worth anything close to it.

The only way I see him back is if it's for WAAYYYYYYYY lower than his qualifying offer and for the second year in a row he can't get above .900%, not even when the other goalie is performing significantly above that, as well as winning at a greater clip than he is. And he's been an .893% goalie over the last 69 games, from game 6 of the 20-21 season onward. Those first 5 games of .939% keep him at .902% on that season as a whole.

His February of 2020 (6-0-1, .966%, 2 shutouts) was one of the best months of Devils goaltending ever and gave us some good hope, but he hasn't come close to that since.

I wish him well, but he's not the better goaltender on this team and hasn't been since better than Vanecek since Vanecek entered the NHL.

For what it's worth, I don't think he played badly against Nashville, but I also don't think he played as well as his game in Seattle, where he allowed two short side goals and the coup de grace with the very soft OT winner. Change up or not.

He played well against Florida and LA, but every other game since he's been back (including in relief in Carolina) has been anywhere from just okay (Nashville game, Carolina game) to terrible, like the Boston game where he was yanked. His Carolina game would have been good if not for the horrendous gaffe.

I think it depends how deadline will goes on. If we trade Meier or some other big fish, Fitz will need to find cap space. There are no chance he will spend it on Blackwood. If not and may be management will decide to make little step back, use more rockie defensemen and sign 1 year deal with Blackwood.

I`m not so mad on him, because I trully believe that big part of his problems are on shoulders of our management and unluck(Crawford and Bernier), that brings problem with health and after - mental health. But again - that was his chance and his moment, he has salary. I believe he will easily find new deal.

Devils are trying to play fast offensive forechecking game with fast transition. Reason why defensemen are making mistakes here and there. It`s nothing new for the league, there are a lot of teams with same "problems", it`s a way of the game, Devils are one of the best teams on the rushes and it`s not because devils defense is surprisingly bad. But some goalies are good against breakaways, some are not. Blackwood is bad. I know it`s not his fault, but it is his work. We should find goalies who works against breakaways better, Blackwood should find a team, that is playing more step away game. Blackwood isn`t good in rebound control - it`s ok, Devils are trying to protect him, but they can`t protect him from the breakaways. Because sometimes they will happen. Because of our style of play. Like we said before, wish him only luck.

 

[Nubmer6]

I think it depends how deadline will goes on. If we trade Meier or some other big fish, Fitz will need to find cap space. There are no chance he will spend it on Blackwood. If not and may be management will decide to make little step back, use more rockie defensemen and sign 1 year deal with Blackwood.

I`m not so mad on him, because I trully believe that big part of his problems are on shoulders of our management and unluck(Crawford and Bernier), that brings problem with health and after - mental health. But again - that was his chance and his moment, he has salary. I believe he will easily find new deal.

Devils are trying to play fast offensive forechecking game with fast transition. Reason why defensemen are making mistakes here and there. It`s nothing new for the league, there are a lot of teams with same "problems", it`s a way of the game, Devils are one of the best teams on the rushes and it`s not because devils defense is surprisingly bad. But some goalies are good against breakaways, some are not. Blackwood is bad. I know it`s not his fault, but it is his work. We should find goalies who works against breakaways better, Blackwood should find a team, that is playing more step away game. Blackwood isn`t good in rebound control - it`s ok, Devils are trying to protect him, but they can`t protect him from the breakaways. Because sometimes they will happen. Because of our style of play. Like we said before, wish him only luck.

Didn't he stop like 10 breakaways his last game?

 

[Guadana]

Didn't he stop like 10 breakaways his last game?

would be good to have stats of specific save % for different situation. But we don`t have it. You should understand that I`m not saying that Blackwood was a reason why we lost it. With Bleedred we are talking more about overall story. Like I understand.
He has good leg works, but often lost positionally.

 

[Bleedred]

Didn't he stop like 10 breakaways his last game?

I don’t think he stopped 10 breakaways or even faced quite 10.

Combined with missed shots on breakaways, we probably did allow close to 10 though.

 

[glenwo2]

Sounds like Schmid was a wall tonight for Utica. He’s been playing very well as of late and is top in GAA in the AHL. Probably won’t happen this season but I think next season you run with a Vanecek/Schmid tandem. He showed well for us earlier this year and I think he’s ready to be a backup at the NHL level.

I think his sudden return to the AHL just because....Blackwood....kind of left him a bit shaken (like "WTF? I play outstanding and THIS is the thanks I get?").

He dipped for a while after he got sent down after playing really well for us. Young player I assume got a confidence hit from being sidelined by Blackwood after standing on his head for us.

THIS.

 

[Bleedred]

Yeah, the thing that has been largely absent from the defense this year are the wide open mid to long range one timers where the Devils have been pinned to one side of the ice - your example has one timers from close in, where the goalie truly has no realistic chance. Those are happening less and so the goalies are having more of a chance on some stuff, but my god, the number of just awful clunky goals last year. I'm surprised Bleed isn't in here talking about stoppable goal rates because that seems pretty easy to compare - I guess it's just a chore because the Devils played so many goalies.

I still have Blackwood for 16 of his 39 as stoppable. It was MUCH higher than that before last game, where I only counted 1 of the 5 stoppable and it was the last one he allowed that game. I counted 3 of the 4 in Seattle stoppable. Two short side, non one timed shots that I think were from the circles? I haven't watched those goals since that night, which it's been 10 days, so my memory on those exact goals may be slightly mistaken. And then there was the really bad game winner, which I'm gonna say is the second worst goal I've seen him allow this year, other than the giveaway against Carolina, which I'm pretty sure the only stoppable I gave him of the 4 in that game. I didn't count either of the 2 against LA, I do know that. And I didn't count either against Florida, but there was the one behind the goal line in relief in Carolina and 2 of the 4 against Boston, which included a goal that I only nailed him on because he gave the puck away. I don't think I would have given that a stoppable goal on that with the way it went in, had he not turned the puck over behind the net, which a Devils skater did not gain clear possession of between his giveaway and his the puck ending up in the net. I don't have much recollection of his first few games of the year, other than I'm pretty sure he got 3 of the 4 stoppable from me in the Philly game that opened the season. I probably gave him 2 for the Washington game, but I'd have to check reviews for that.

I expect that 41% number to go down a little bit if he gets more games, though I probably do have some goalies that have played even more games than him that are close to that number. I had James Reimer there for a long time into this season, but I think that's come down a little bit. I actually currently have LAK season saver Pheonix Copley for 21 of 50 stoppable, which is an even higher percentage than Blackwood and an even larger sample size of games/minutes played. Last year I had Blackwood for 29 out of 79, which is a little lower than this year, but the sample size was larger. And I clearly remember giving him 3 in the season finale, where he allowed 4 in total. I've actually a couple times ''I fully expect Blackwood to get blown up for a lot of goals he has no chance on in one of these games, just for how high the percentage of goals stoppable I've counted on him'' which kind of happened against Nashville.

Somehow I can remember his games a little more, because he doesn't play as much the last month and it's easier to remember.

For Vitek it's currently 18 stoppable and he's allowed 67. So not quite 27%. My league average this year seems to be around 29%. I did have Vitek with a higher percentage for a while way earlier into the season, but I think I only gave him 2 stoppable goals the whole month of January. One was against the Rangers and another was a short side high goal a couple games ago, it wasn't a terrible game. I'm pretty sure those are the only 2 goals I've given him a stoppable on since the two shots from the circle in that Carolina game where he was pulled. I'm pretty sure there was a point where I had him at like 32% on the season and ironically it was I think when he had a .923% on the season after the Chicago shutout.

Last two years for Vitek in Washington I had him at 27 out of 95 I counted stoppable. Which was probably a little better than the league average. I think I had a higher average out of any season that year, but it was still only around 29%, but probably a little higher and that's not quite 28.5% for him. For 21-22 I have him at 26 out of 103, which was a little over 25% and pretty good, as I think my league average was around 28.5% last year. His GSAx was not good in his first two years in Washington, I think it was not that bad last year, but like a -5.something in year one? I don't have the site opened right now.

Schmid I have for 4 out of 17 this year. I'm pretty sure 2 came in the last game he played against St. Louis and I remember 1 came in the Florida game (went off his glove) that was his last start before being sent down the first time. I think I gave him one in the Islanders game, which wasn't really that bad.

Schmid last year I had for 6 out of 19. I think he's played close to twice the minutes this year than he did last year.

 

[My3Sons]

I still have Blackwood for 16 of his 39 as stoppable. It was MUCH higher than that before last game, where I only counted 1 of the 5 stoppable and it was the last one he allowed that game. I counted 3 of the 4 in Seattle stoppable. Two short side, non one timed shots that I think were from the circles? I haven't watched those goals since that night, which it's been 10 days, so my memory on those exact goals may be slightly mistaken. And then there was the really bad game winner, which I'm gonna say is the second worst goal I've seen him allow this year, other than the giveaway against Carolina, which I'm pretty sure the only stoppable I gave him of the 4 in that game. I didn't count either of the 2 against LA, I do know that. And I didn't count either against Florida, but there was the one behind the goal line in relief in Carolina and 2 of the 4 against Boston, which included a goal that I only nailed him on because he gave the puck away. I don't think I would have given that a stoppable goal on that with the way it went in, had he not turned the puck over behind the net, which a Devils skater did not gain clear possession of between his giveaway and his the puck ending up in the net. I don't have much recollection of his first few games of the year, other than I'm pretty sure he got 3 of the 4 stoppable from me in the Philly game that opened the season. I probably gave him 2 for the Washington game, but I'd have to check reviews for that.

I expect that 41% number to go down a little bit if he gets more games, though I probably do have some goalies that have played even more games than him that are close to that number. I had James Reimer there for a long time into this season, but I think that's come down a little bit. I actually currently have LAK season saver Pheonix Copley for 21 of 50 stoppable, which is an even higher percentage than Blackwood and an even larger sample size of games/minutes played. Last year I had Blackwood for 29 out of 79, which is a little lower than this year, but the sample size was larger. And I clearly remember giving him 3 in the season finale, where he allowed 4 in total. I've actually a couple times ''I fully expect Blackwood to get blown up for a lot of goals he has no chance on in one of these games, just for how high the percentage of goals stoppable I've counted on him'' which kind of happened against Nashville.

Somehow I can remember his games a little more, because he doesn't play as much the last month and it's easier to remember.

For Vitek it's currently 18 stoppable and he's allowed 67. So not quite 27%. My league average this year seems to be around 29%. I did have Vitek with a higher percentage for a while way earlier into the season, but I think I only gave him 2 stoppable goals the whole month of January. One was against the Rangers and another was a short side high goal a couple games ago, it wasn't a terrible game. I'm pretty sure those are the only 2 goals I've given him a stoppable on since the two shots from the circle in that Carolina game where he was pulled. I'm pretty sure there was a point where I had him at like 32% on the season and ironically it was I think when he had a .923% on the season after the Chicago shutout.

Last two years for Vitek in Washington I had him at 27 out of 95 I counted stoppable. Which was probably a little better than the league average. I think I had a higher average out of any season that year, but it was still only around 29%, but probably a little higher and that's not quite 28.5% for him. For 21-22 I have him at 26 out of 103, which was a little over 25% and pretty good, as I think my league average was around 28.5% last year. His GSAx was not good in his first two years in Washington, I think it was not that bad last year, but like a -5.something in year one? I don't have the site opened right now.

Schmid I have for 4 out of 17 this year. I'm pretty sure 2 came in the last game he played against St. Louis and I remember 1 came in the Florida game (went off his glove) that was his last start before being sent down the first time. I think I gave him one in the Islanders game, which wasn't really that bad.

Schmid last year I had for 6 out of 19. I think he's played close to twice the minutes this year than he did last year.

So a bit of improvement for Schmid. He’s gone from just under 1/3 of his goals were stoppable to just under 25%. That’s not bad. If he can continue to improve in the AHL the rest of the year I’d give him and Daws a real chance to be the backup next season. As you have pointed out Blackwood’s QO is just cost prohibitive so they probably have to sign a veteran insurance policy but it would be someone on a one year deal for me.

 

[Bleedred]

So a bit of improvement for Schmid. He’s gone from just under 1/3 of his goals were stoppable to just under 25%. That’s not bad. If he can continue to improve in the AHL the rest of the year I’d give him and Daws a real chance to be the backup next season. As you have pointed out Blackwood’s QO is just cost prohibitive so they probably have to sign a veteran insurance policy but it would be someone on a one year deal for me.

Yeah, even if Blackwood has a tear to end the season, qualifying offer is too much.

What he makes this year is way too much, but it was also signed after he had the two solid seasons and no bad ones at the NHL level.

It could have been worse and he could have been given the Cal Petersen contract, which is almost twice as much per year and at the same term.

Even if he said he'd take $1.5 million to stay I'd still say that's too much. I'd roll the dice on Schmid at under $1 million and if he falters? We can try Daws.

Daws has been pretty underwhelming since his NHL stint and his NHL stint was also underwhelming. He clearly played about 12-15 more games than he should have last year in the NHL.

 

[My3Sons]

Yeah, even if Blackwood has a tear to end the season, qualifying offer is too much.

What he makes this year is way too much, but it was also signed after he had the two solid seasons and no bad ones at the NHL level.

It could have been worse and he could have been given the Cal Petersen contract, which is almost twice as much per year and at the same term.

Even if he said he'd take $1.5 million to stay I'd still say that's too much. I'd roll the dice on Schmid at under $1 million and if he falters? We can try Daws.

Daws has been pretty underwhelming since his NHL stint and his NHL stint was also underwhelming. He clearly played about 12-15 more games than he should have last year in the NHL.

There is probably a declining vet you can add as insurance at about $1 mil for a year. Some team will presumably offer two seasons to Blackwood and gamble on him having some improvement left in his game with a new goalie coach.

 

[Bleedred]

There is probably a declining vet you can add as insurance at about $1 mil for a year. Some team will presumably offer two seasons to Blackwood and gamble on him having some improvement left in his game with a new goalie coach.

I don't know if it will be a two year deal.

I think something like what Samsonov got from the Leafs, which is $1.5 million for one year.

I wouldn't bet my life on it not being a 2 year deal, but I do seriously doubt it will be.

Who knows? Maybe he replaces Samsonov if they can't afford him this year, because they still have Murray's crippled bone dust for one more year on their books.