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Originally Posted by stemit14
Good point. And a great comparison with the Hamonic trade. The flames also tried to do the “cheap” options for goaltending as well… constantly going after older goalies that were legit starters but cheaper than acquiring a top tier goaltender during the years when the team entered its contention window (Hillier, Elliott, Smith). To this day, I think those goaltending choices contributed to what made that core so inconsistent - they were developed in the NHL with goalies that consistently let in terrible goals at terrible times. All 3 of those goaltenders were famous for letting in a bad early goal during their times as starters in Calgary. I bet if you look back through most of those years and the years after, the flames were more often outplaying their opponents but not necessarily winning many games they deserved to win. That makes skilled players frustrated and hesitant to be confident. Also makes them start to abandon defensive structure trying to do too much because they are afraid even a single harmless shot will go in.
So from that perspective, I can see wanting to fix that problem now before it starts to hinder the development of the young players on the devils. Let’s hope that will make the Devils’ GM pull the trigger on trading 10th overall for Markstrom.
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Bad goaltending can lead to abandoning structure as you suggest, but in a pressurized situation it can also lead to over emphasizing the defensive shell. I think Jersey largely abandoned their defensive philosophy last year, but with a new coach on board, if goaltending is suspect the reins will likely be tightened by necessity. That collection of skill doesn't need to be "Suttered."
If Fitzgerald can find a way to get a top tender for less, then good on him, but you have to give to get and for a team in their situation pick 10 is not too high a cost. It may be a hard deal to sell to the fans, but if they enter the season with Jake Allen or Joe Bloke trying to fend off pucks Fitzgerald will have some real explaining to do.