Talk about Capitals hockey & more! > Washington Capitals & Other Hockey Discussion
R1G6 Caps vs Panthers @ 7:30pm
richkrt99:
So here's my problem with our "young" goal tenders. Sammy currently is 26 and Vitek is 27. They will be 27 and 28 come January & February. They SHOULD already be well into their NHL prime right now.
The average age of NHL goalies is 27.3. SO our guys are not YOUNG, they are average age for NHL goalie. I was a little surprised at this - kind of figured the average would be older.
This highly reliable info from the interwebs: The results are interesting, and still support the theory that on average goaltending development peaks around 23 and maintains in top form until around 26. From that point on the average NHL netminder is in slow decline and stops being around NHL average at 33-34.
I'd argue this a bit in that IMO most GT are in their prime ages 27 -32 with more experience, but also depends on the individual. AND many of the really good starters are older than 27. (However digging into those guys, it appears they have been starters for quite some time already)
Sammy and Vitek are both behind the curve in their development into their "peak" They SHOULD be better than this by now. Either that or this is just as good as they are ever going to be- which is not quite good enough to be an full time NHL starter. I'm sure the two Covid seasons didn't help in their development, and it does take much longer to develop a goalie than other players, but at some point....Step up or step aside. I don't mean to be critical or harsh, but that's the way it is. Phoenix Copely is an example; has had some great flashes and good starts, but just not quite NHL starter caliber.
Better goalie coach would help...MAYBE, but get me the best goalie coach on the planet and you won't turn Phoenix into a Vezina winner. Maybe the same goes for Sammy and Vitek? I would love for a new coach to come in an turn these guys into NHL super stars, but I don't think that truly a possibility at this point.
I am not so concerned about their specific age, but it seems to me they both had MORE than enough opportunity to develop and take the reigns and be our starter over the last couple seasons and neither is up to that task for whatever reason.
I looked at the ages of some of the better goalies this season (based on 2021-22 Stats: GAA, save %, wins, etc) I was a bit surprised at the youth of the leaders...
Shesterkin - 26 - NYR (lead starter since age 25)
Andersen - 32 - CAR (lead starter since age 24)
Markstrom - 32 - CGY (lead starter since age 27)
Sorokin - 26 - NYI (lead starter since last year which was his 1st NHL season moving over from KHL)
Swayman - 23 - BOS
Kuemper - 32 - COL (starter since age 28)
Bobrovsky - 32 - FLA (lead starter since age 22)
Vasilevskiy - 27 - TB (lead starter since age 22)
Saros - 27 - NSH (lead starter since age 22)
The average age of these top 9 goalies is 28.55. Most of these guys led in two of the three top categories. Five of the nine are roughly the same age or younger than our guys. However, nearly all of them were established NHL starters before age 27)
It's no coincidence these guys all play for good teams, but that's a two way street.....better goalies lead to better teams just as better teams goalies have better stats.
It's not fair to compare our guys to just the top 9 goalies as far as performance and stats go, but my point was the relative development age of these guys. Also - all the old guys on this list have been THE starter on their team for several years; Anderson, Bobrovsky, Kuemper
The one freak of nature is Mike Smith - 40 years old and starter for EDM. However he only started 29 games this year - I am assuming the original starter (Mikko Koskinen) went down with injury? I could not find any info on him, but he played in late April..
Flip a coin, pick one as a good backup, sell Carlson, buy an NHL goalie. I don't see us finding a great one for the funds we will have, but then I don't see us moving Carlson either. Really curious what might have been if the King had actually played for us for a year and helped develop these guys....and been a reliable step in for a playoff series. Life of a Cap fan....what if, what if, what it.....
Mickstix:
They MUST find a new goalie coach, regardless who they have between the pipes. Every goalie we've had, since Korn left, has broken.
Beaglefan2:
On Carlson, not that Ted would allow him to be traded, but if he did, I believe Dylan has a no-trade clause or a limited trade clause.
I actually think the foursome of Orlov, Fever, TVR and Jensen is a really good start. If we just had two solid physical guys to go with them. I would really love it if Fever and TVR put on about 10 pounds of muscle.
waynerivers:
On a side note, FLA was the first team in 20 years to win a series without scoring a PP goal. That's pretty sad company for the Caps to be in.
Speaking of our vaunted defense, most of them had a rotten series:
TVR +3
Schultz +2
Orlov -4
Jensen -5
Carlson -5
Fehervary -7
richkrt99:
--- Quote from: Beaglefan2 on Thursday May 19, 2022, 10:13:20 AM Eastern ---On Carlson, not that Ted would allow him to be traded, but if he did, I believe Dylan has a no-trade clause or a limited trade clause.
I actually think the foursome of Orlov, Fever, TVR and Jensen is a really good start. If we just had two solid physical guys to go with them. I would really love it if Fever and TVR put on about 10 pounds of muscle.
--- End quote ---
I'm good with that as a start. I hated when we traded Ziggy to Philthy. I thought he showed promise and he was big and physical. Then they sent Dillon packing and left us with no physical D.
I think Fever could be really good and I could see him being more physical (and possibly adding that 10lbs) but the trend in the NHL is faster and lighter not beefier. TVR - not sure why he hasn't put on weight in his career - think he could use it; 6'-3", 190lbs. Also perplexed about him because he couldn't crack the lineup last year and this year he's been really solid. Not like he's a youngin - he's 30.
Dylan does indeed have a M-NTC. year 2022 he submits a 10 team No trade list....so basically can't be treaded to those 10 teams.
(It's a 15-team list from 2018-2022 and 10-team list 2022-2026)
NOT THAT the CAPS will EVER trade him.
I think it's gonna be letting Shultz walk (assuming he gets a better deal somewhere) then moving some other minor pieces to try and squeeze room for a mediocre bargain GT and a D to replace Sgt Shultz.
Caps will sign Sammy, and let Vitek go.
Then we will have the same squad as last year with a few minor changes and the same end result. The biggest factor is the question with Backy, but I do not believe that will be answered in time to do any good for next season. We shall see.
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