That's a very good list. I think Jan Bednar and Nick Malik should make that list based on their talent/upside but that's just my opinion.
Of course. Schmid's parents are Swiss. From what I know, there's nothing Japanese about Schmid except his name. He doesn't exactly look Japanese either.
That Vasilevskiy take is quite hilarious considering I’d say the only other goalie in the league who seems to be able to rival his absolute year over year dominance that he has shown is… 5’11” Saros. Shesterkin is looking like he has the potential for that same year over year brilliance at 6’1”. Sorokin at 6’3” I’d add to that group as well. After that it gets murkier, plenty of other goalies show potential for Vezina caliber seasons but then fade the year after.
We discussed that already. It's a lot easier to backstop a completely overpowered team than a poor or middle of the pack team. If you read the list I posted about who joined the team with Wolf then you have to agree with me that we're talking about a whole new quality defense group plus a shitload of offensive firepower thanks to Zary and Pelletier. While Wolf's consistency is still amazing, it's much easier to execute when adversity is trending towards zero because your team is mostly winning and so much better than the opponents that many games aren't even competitive anymore. It's not Wolf's fault he played for good to overpowered teams only but from a neutral standpoint (I'm Swiss) I'd like to see a smallish goalie respond to adversity before naming him a better goalie prospect than friggen Jesper Wallstedt who's the complete package, has everything you wish for when looking at goalie prospect. That should be understandable even for a diehard Calgary fan. If not then I can't help you. Btw, I'm not quite alone on this one. It's not like I'm telling you something completely crazy I'vd just made up. Still, nobody knows how this is gonna shake out. As I told you I've got nothing bad to say about Wolf and it's completely possible he's gonna be the best goalie of this poll. For now you have to live the fact that he's not the one with the highest upside and he's also not the one I, and the majority on this board, like the most. Sorry if that's not what you wanted to hear.
I don't think any Flames fan would be too updet with someone choosing Askarov/Wally, but its the reasons you're giving that sound like BS. Saying he has a small pro sample size is BS. Saying he is a product of great teams is also BS, when as pointed out many times, the other goalies in the system have played like crap behind those great teams.
We discussed it, and you hand waved away anything that was detrimental to argument. During Wolf’s pro career, his team has more losses than wins when he doesn’t start. During Wallstedt’s pro career, his team has a better winning percentage when he doesn’t start. Wolf actually faces shots at higher rates this year than Wallstedt does. We have the likes of Jeremie Poirier roaming our own zone, who while he has made big improvements, was heralded for his “defensive play” or lack thereof. Always remember that goalies win coaches the Jack Adams. You argue that Wolf owes his success to playing on a powerhouse while I think it’s more fair to say the Wranglers owe being a powerhouse to Dustin Wolf. That team has lost plenty more firepower than it’s gained season over season (Gawdin, Freose, Philp, Pelletier, Ruzicka, even Phillips for a stretch), yet keeps rolling nonetheless.
At this point they all have a small sample size but other goalies just have higher upside. You wanna hype Wolf based on consistency but nobody wanted to hype Wallstedt based on consistency or track record. At least not that I read it.
You're not gonna convince me (and probably not many others) by just repeating the same things over and over again so we'll just leave it at that. There's no point debating this any further. Nobody here had anything bad to say about Wolf and nobody can say for sure he's not gonna be the best goalie of this poll. Wallstedt is still winning the poll because he's got higher upside. You can disagree but you gotta deal with it. I'll be happy to discuss this further with you once we know more but for now there's probably no point.
There's no such thing as locks when talking about goalie prospects. You can maybe talk about a lock once a goalie played two steller seasons as a starter but even then you can't be sure. Korpisalo has been underwhelming for years and all of a sudden he put it all together. On the other side, Binnington won a cup (and was almost unbeatable) but has only gotten worse ever since to a point where he now has zero business playing NHL.
Its kinda crazy that Shesterkin avoids this conversation being a single inch taller. Also, I don't know why everyone is taking it for granted that big goaltenders will be the trend forever now. Just like how smaller skaters are finding success more frequently in the NHL, I believe the same can true for goalies.
