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POLL: Capitals Goalie going into the playoffs

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ArJunaZ:
The Capitals coaches have a very good problem, two world class goalies. The time for evaluations is pretty much past. Decisions now must be made.

Braden Holtby was a Vezina Trophy winner two seasons ago and was runner up last season.  He has been an absolute beast in goal for years, but has had some issues this season, not all of which were of his own doing. The team has played poorly in front of both he and Grubauer.  Holtby hasn't been awful, but Grubauer has simply shined consistently, showing himself to be as good as Holtby and maybe even better at this time.

Philipp Grubauer started the season poorly, but again it was mostly due to horrendous defensive play in front of him. Lately Grubauer has been on a tear with some of the best goalie stats over the last few months.

Grubauer's game against the Penguins on April 1, 2018 was stellar to say the least.  The normally explosive Penguins offense had no answer for Grubauer.  Besides Grubauer currently being one of the hottest goalies in the NHL I think the fact the Penguins have rarely played against Grubauer gives us an advantage.  That Barry Trotz started Grubauer against the Penguins on Sunday spoke volumes IMO about where he is leaning or maybe even committed already.

As we're all PAINFULLY aware of The Capitals have not fared well at crunch time against the Penguins in post season. This was not only due to Holtby, though he had not been stellar. Our offense also failed to show up far too often. Many of our players are coming alive lately. A hot goalie in net could be just the change we need and give us a psychological edge over the Hens.  I we can play with a hot goalie in the playoffs and all cylinders are firing elsewhere in our lineup we could see magic finally breaking through the Capitals post season woes.

All that being said I would like to know where our members stand on this. 

Of course, it would be great to hear your thoughts too.


You can choose up to two options in the poll, but I ask that you only use the second vote if your first vote is option 3 or 4.

DC_1908:
The Caps are already screwing this up, so I will not be surprised if they go with with Grubby.


This way they can:
-use Holtby as a scapegoat for the garbage skaters and system in front of him
-not have to hold the players accountable (because Euro-feelings)
-get all the attention and marketing  of the “back up goalie” they can
-any success would justify thier bullshit “hot goalie” excuse they’ve used for the past 10 years
-if Grubby wins a round, they can dump Holts salary (in yet another terrible trade),so Dickless and BetaMale can get more overpaid Eurotrash.


So yes they have installed a hopeless system, with sloppy players , in front of an elite goalie in his prime , and put him in front of the Kool Aid firing squad for entertainment and to keep the blame off them.


Make no mistake, we are worst playoff style team in the league.  Saying “Grubauer is better than Holtby” is just cyonide in the Rock Red Kool Aide  in the “we have a chance” toast.

Maacoshark:
No clue who will be or should be the starter. I am a big Holtby supporter and I do think he is the better of the 2 but I can't ignore the fact that Grubauer is in a hot streak.

BlackIce:
Just because the Caps committed to Holtby as their franchise goaltender before Grubauer established himself doesn't mean that Holtby is a better goaltender.  It just means that the franchise made a commitment to him.


Look at Gruby's stats.  He is absolutely in the conversation about who is the better goalie.  There is no simply declaring that Holtby is unquestionably better, because the evidence doesn't support it.  Two seasons ago Grubauer had a little bit worse performance stats, last year they were almost identical, and this year Grubauer's performance stats have been better.  All this while Grubauer has never had even treatment with Holtby being the franchise commitment.  Not that I'm complaining about this; the franchise made its decision and to this point has played it out.  So be it.  But that has NOTHING to do with a legitimate comparison of the quality of the two goalies.


The franchise is approaching a decision point with Grubauer.  They have RFA control of him for one more year, though they will need to give him a significant raise (or I would presume that Gruby would take them to arbitration.)  But I COULD see someone signing Gruby to an offer sheet this summer that the Caps cannot match and making a commitment to him as their starter.  If that doesn't happen, I assume Gruby is gone after next season if Holtby is still around, one way or another.

DC_1908:

--- Quote from: BlackIce on Tuesday April 03, 2018, 11:19:56 AM Eastern ---Just because the Caps committed to Holtby as their franchise goaltender before Grubauer established himself doesn't mean that Holtby is a better goaltender.  It just means that the franchise made a commitment to him.


Look at Gruby's stats.  He is absolutely in the conversation about who is the better goalie.  There is no simply declaring that Holtby is unquestionably better, because the evidence doesn't support it.  Two seasons ago Grubauer had a little bit worse performance stats, last year they were almost identical, and this year Grubauer's performance stats have been better.  All this while Grubauer has never had even treatment with Holtby being the franchise commitment.  Not that I'm complaining about this; the franchise made its decision and to this point has played it out.  So be it.  But that has NOTHING to do with a legitimate comparison of the quality of the two goalies.


The franchise is approaching a decision point with Grubauer.  They have RFA control of him for one more year, though they will need to give him a significant raise (or I would presume that Gruby would take them to arbitration.)  But I COULD see someone signing Gruby to an offer sheet this summer that the Caps cannot match and making a commitment to him as their starter.  If that doesn't happen, I assume Gruby is gone after next season if Holtby is still around, one way or another.

--- End quote ---
So Grubby is on the same level as a two rime Vezna finalist and winner the past two seasons? 


I see where saying, and you’d be correct except for one thing:  minutes.  Now rather Holtby being over worked has lead to this slump or not, can only be estimated or assumed.  So we do know is Grubbys numbers are in a small window in certain situations and typically lower scoring teams.  This leaves us with “the chance” he has both the consistency and work ethic Holtby does to replace and do better than someone who finished as one of the top three goalies in the past two years.


I sure as hell ain’t takin those odds with that data

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