Quote:
Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher
Goalies don't have to trend down at that age. Hasek played into his 40's didn't he? Lundqvist still going strong in his mid 30's. Kiprusoff chose to retire when he did, he didn't look like he was tending down.
I know why people might be pessimistic about the age but saying he MUST decline due to age is presumptuous.
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A lot of people forget Kipper's last season he posted a 3.44 GAA and .882 sav. That's definitely awful.
In general, almost all goalies suddenly fall off a cliff some time around age 35. Sure Smith may be the Hasek exception, but I really doubt it. This isn't a will he or won't he argument in my mind. It's a probability or gambling argument. You have to hitch your team to a goalie at some point, so do you hitch it to a goalie that
most likely will drop off at $5M a year for 2 years? I mean this could get really ugly