Goaltending took us out of this one early. Wolves outshot Ottawa by a considerable margin in the first, no way they should have been ahead. All shots except maybe the first goal were stoppable and I didn’t think Ottawa did anything special. Really hoping goaltending trouble was mostly behind us but to me it remains a significant question mark question mark and I’m not sure either goalie can be consistent enough to carry the load. Might want to look at bringing one in via trade. Yes the team didn’t play that well after the first but you need some saves early.
Need those Euros that are ‘supposed’ to be coming and could really use a return for Musty. Hoping they could bank a few points as they could end up under .500 with a tough road trip next weekend. Anyone notice how often we play Barrie before the holidays? They will be one of the toughest outs in the conference going forward.
Goaltending was always going to be questionable this season, Kwachuck has never taken the job to the point, we brought in Vandenburg while Vondras was at the WJCs. Gaulton missed most of his first year in Espanola due to injury and was 50/50 here and espanola early last year. Marshall is in his first year in the OHL.
If you want to grab one of the bottom 4 playoff spots that bad then yeah we should spend assets on a goalie. Only way I am making a trade for a goalie is if it's a 07 or 08 for one of our 3 to a contender. Kwachuck likely isn't back next year unless we are using an OA spot. That leaves goaltending as Marshall, Gaulton and maybe Mateo if he reports next season.
Personally I'm look at building the team for 26-27 as I don't see any of the heavy hitters in the east dropping off next season. Hopefully by Friday we will have some answers for Musty and Imports. It was suggested in Erie board that one of the hold ups with Molnar is supposedly visa issues.