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Originally Posted by N26
I still have high hopes for Gillies and Parsons. So high I still think they can be our near-future tandem. They are both still in my top 10 prospects.
The "goalies are voodoo" and "goalies take longer" arguments are practically fact outside of a few exceptions. The NHL is a huge jump and so is the AHL from college or junior. Especially at that position.
Adversity and bad stat years seem to be a good thing for goalies more so than other positions, Makes them tougher and no position requires more resilience. You need to see flashes are NHL level competence and you need to retain your belief in them. Without that you cut bait like they did with McDonald.
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While I generally agree, I also think it is important for goalie prospects to demonstrate their dominance at the AHL level, and if they fail to do so I become quite sceptical about their long-term potential. Jon Gillies is entering his fourth pro season, and thus far has not managed to establish himself as a dominant AHL goaltender. That is a legitimate concern.
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The example du jour of course is Binnington who was the Blues 5th goalie at the start of 2017-18 and loaned to another AHL club. He started this year, his 6th pro season, as the #4.
Goaltenders rarely take a straight line to the NHL. Of all the starters in the league right now the only ones I think can make that claim are Gibson, Quick, Martin and Vaselivsky (and maybe Bobrovsky).
We've got three decent prospects (incl. Zagidulin) and two maybes (Schneider and Wolf). I like it.
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But prior to this season Binnington was coming off of a stellar AHL campaign, and was well on his way to repeating that performance before being recalled to the St Louis Blues. Binnington is the same age as Jon Gillies—the clock is definitely ticking, and he is running out of runway.