Quote:
Originally Posted by Textcritic
This is one of these odd facts that remain true until it does not. Just like for decades there was no European-born player to captain a NHL team to a championship, this one in principle does not make any sense. Domink Hasek technically does not qualify as a UFA goalie, because Detroit acquired him in a trade. But he was a goalie that won the Cup in his mid-thirties with a team that did not draft him, and added him late.
I personally think it is only a matter of time before a UFA goalie wins a championship. It is weird that it hasn't happened already, since there is no rationale for why it has not happened.
|
I can't speak to the
pre-cap era, but I think it's fair to say that championship teams have allocated a minimal percentage of their cap to their prime-age goalies. I think either Marc-Andre Fleury in 2009 or Jonathan Quick in 2014 had the highest cap hit percentage of a cup-winning goaltender in the cap era - and both were still in their mid-20s. In the case of the former, he was arguably the primary reason they won the cup since he stood on his head at age 24.
Actually I think Vasilevskiy in 2021 might take that award, but we all know about the LTIR loopholing that Tampa did with Kucherov. Their window might have closed with the departures of Coleman and Gourde.
IMO the idea that goalies hit their prime later is a myth. Most goalies get
trusted to play start minutes when they're already about to begin losing athleticism (even Kipprusoff) but sometimes these guys were perfectly in-the-prime while toiling away in the AHL. All goalie seasons are pretty hit-or-miss in a given year and a lot of the so-called "development" years are really just their prime years being wasted in the wrong league. I have no way to prove it, so I guess it'll just have to remain my opinion.
I also think playoff schedules - game-every-other-night - are very difficult for a 35+ year old goaltender. Your body just doesn't recover that quickly at that age.