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Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher
Yeah he has nice numbers on good teams.
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The 2016 Rangers were not a good team. They were a team carried by goaltending. Period.
The 2015 Hawks were about middle of the pack defensively.
Especially with their tire-fire third pairing bleeding quality chances.
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So have a lot of career backups. Jonathan Bernier looked like an elite goalie in LA (1.88 GAA and .922 SV% his last year there) and now in TOR? Not so much.
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L.A. was not a defensive team comparable to the 2015 Blackhawks or 2016 Rangers. The 2013 Kings were 4th in HDASCA60 (which is better than 18th and 24th) and 4th in SCA60 (which is better than 9th and 19th). You can't just point to every successful team and imply they were the reason their goaltending was strong. Sometimes goaltending is strong because of the team, sometimes goaltending is strong despite the team.
A good team comparable to the 2013 Kings? The 2016 Ducks. 3rd in HDCA60 and 3rd in SCA60. But you'd probably be
ecstatic to bring in Andersen or Gibson, no?
And by the way, his last three years as a backup in LA, Bernier had an aggregate .915SV%. Bernier has a .915 SV% aggregate SV% as a Toronto Maple Leaf. You would not want a goalie putting up a .915 SV% as a starter? Bernier has had a poor year for sure, and the mental aspect of goaltending is a big part but overall there is nothing suggesting Bernier isn't a starter. Quality starters can have poor years. Devan Dubnyk has. Even Carey Price has. Bernier's body of work points to a starter.
If your worry is that Raanta who has better SV% as a backup behind average and poor defensive teams is no different than Bernier as a backup behind a strong defensive team... it's a misguided concern.
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Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher
Well not every guy who looks small in the net ends up as good as Tim Thomas do they? Most of them don't.
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Most of them also never post a .925 SV% over a two season span. Top 4 amongst 2000+ minute played goalies over that span.
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It isn't that crazy to think Raanta isn't anything more than a backup.
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It is crazy. It's not crazy to be skeptical of his ability to handle a starter load. But it's crazy to be convinced he's only a backup.
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I don't think Raanta has a very good chance of being the next Tim Thomas. You do apparently? Great.
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I said nothing of the sort. Raanta doesn't need to be Tim Thomas to be effective. He can be the next Jaroslav Halak though. Another small goalie who has had a fine career as a starter.
I don't even
want Raanta. His comments last year about the Blackhawks made me dislike him. But I'm just not letting that cloud my judgement.