The problem is every bet Fitz has made on goaltending was a good one. Crawford and Bernier were both solid veterans that had proven very capable of a tandem role. Bernier was only 32 when he signed with us, Crawford was 35, but both of those were only two-year commitments which is a fine bet to make for a UFA that costs no other assets. Blackwood showed a lot of promise when healthy so it was reasonable to keep expecting him to be able to work in a tandem as well. Vanecek had been solid in a tandem and did fine his first season even as his play trailed off. He was absurdly below his career average performance last season and in the playoffs in 2023. And by all accounts he tried to keep Schmid in the AHL last year despite popular opinion and continued to do so during the season, but just couldn't find a deal for a price he was comfortable with.
I can't fault him on any of this, but I could fault him on caving now. If he does that, it's being too results oriented. If it was right to avoid paying big assets for a goalie before, it is right now. Luckily, I think he understands that, but he also feels like he has to do something better than Talbot or whoever, so now we're stuck with some assets going somewhere for the sake of saving face and hoping that whatever goalie we end up with is actually that much better than what we could have had for free.
