Quote:
Originally Posted by Enoch Root
My concern with Quick, along with the injury history, is that there is a real good chance that Rittich becomes the #1. And $5.8M for a backup - even if he is the best backup in the game - is a tough thing to deal with, cap-wise.
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Not trying to rain on anyone's parade, but "real good chance" is being generous.
There's always some random goalie who posts good numbers for a couple dozen games. That goalie more often than not remains a backup than a number 1 goalie. It's probably more likely that goalies fade into obscurity.
Riitich is 26 with 24 games this season. Hammond was 26 and had 24 games in 2014-2015. He went 20-1-2 with a 0.941 save percentage. He was out of the NHL and playing in the AHL in two years.
Fasth had an even worse fate. He had a 26 game solid showing with the Ducks and two years later he was playing for the Oilers - abysmally.
Raycroft was a number 1 for one season, despite Toronto's disbelief.
And of course you got Jim Carey before his acting career took off.
Good news is I could have said the same thing about Kiprusoff.