I agree. Devon Levi was taking in the last round, but I believe he is a better prospect than many of the goalies in his draft class. I really don’t understand the hype around size for a goaltender and I think it will start to disappear as more “undersized” prospects prove they are capable. Saros is 5’10 and a top three goalie in the nhl. I really think size has an impact in many aspects of the game, but feel like those aspects ie. physicality, puck possession, poke check etc provide bigger advantages to other positions. Longer legs and a bigger frame means bigger five hole, and potentially less mobility, where as shorter may have quicker feet and agility. A larger goalie can cover more of the net and creates a more intimidating presence as well as having to move less to cover more. In my opinion both have their advantages and diversity in the sport makes for a more interesting game.
Terrific explanation. That’s exactly how I feel.
There are only so many athletic freaks in the sport like Vasilevskiy that are 6’3 with some of the best lateral movement in the league and good positioning/technique/sense. At the goaltending position, there’s one.
It’s a trade-off otherwise. What I look for most with a goalie is save percentage. It might sound stupid, but I think that’s the largest correlation with success at higher levels. I think the bottom line results for the position are a higher correlation for a goalie than points for skaters.
Junior or lower level pro hockey is not a level of hockey where I think the elite players are undone by the team around them that often. There are some goalies who don’t put up big numbers until the middle of their career, but it’s usually because those goalies weren’t that good until then and then something came together to make them better. If you put the best goalies in the NHL on the worst teams in the CHL this season, they are probably leading the CHL in save percentage by a lot.
Environment only matters so much. Where the best goalies might suffer if their defensemen don’t tie up sticks in front of the net or allow a lot of odd man rushes, they’ll make up for it with having less games where they can’t stop a puck or allowing less rebounds. If you have superior ability, it’ll make up for playing for a bad team at a level where statistically you have to be in the absolute upper tier of players in the league to have a chance to be a successful NHL’er. Even if your defense sucks and are giving up a breakaway, if you are going to be in the NHL, you should be able to stop the breakaway attempt of the guy that’ll be a plumber in five years.
Environment matters, but the best goalies were usually the best goalies at lower levels, regardless of circumstances. If that’s what Ratzlaff is in the WHL or internationally in his age group, I think he’s a better bet than a guy who is mediocre in junior and doesn’t come close to making Canada’s international rosters that happens to be 6’3.
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