Unfortunately I couldn’t attend anything with the camps but I am excited to see how the team does in the preseason to better gauge expectations for this season. Really need to see improvements in net if they expect to make a real run in the West and while I’m happy they added Erliden, the backup spot is a major question mark - and that’s assuming Erliden can just step in as a #1 option.. which is too early to feel good about
Last year, Erie went 33-28-5-2. Their best goalie only played 34 games and ranked T-12 for SV% across the league. Their backup goalie situation was pretty horrendous and outside of Fraser, it was painful to watch - they went 7-16-2 and tbh, I’m surprised they got that many wins when looking back at the statistics. Fraser/Gaudreau combined for a record of 26-12-3-2. So, consistently getting at least that goalie production across a full season (.893% combined; which is not too much to ask for) is the the minimum goal. If they can do it, then Erie could improve their win total by about 8-9 games (based on last year’s stats). Now, obviously if their goaltending is even better than that then the ceiling of this team becomes a real contender. Combine that with the development of their young star talent and they could be a sneaky team this year. But, as obvious as this is to say, it starts with the goalie situation. That has plagued this team for years and until they figure it out, it won’t really matter much about the team in front.