Be sure to join the Discord channel to talk hockey, and everything else, with our writers and subscribers. By CJ Turtoro (@CJTDevil) The story of the year for the New Jersey Devils has been bad goaltending. I’ve started using the hashtag #JustTheGoalie to drive home the point that it’s my opinion that we’d be exactly where we want to be, if not slightly ahead, if only the goaltender position panned out as planned.
Every theory starts with a hypothesis & then you try to prove or disprove it. Everything is pointing towards the problem being goaltending. Only way to prove or disprove that is for Fitzy to get off his ass & get a goalie. Goalies cost way less than skaters to trade for. We're not going to get a free agent worth a crap when we've got Mac & Bernier to compete with. So it's pretty much make a trade before the deadline, during the off-season, or we're gonna count on Mac & Bernier again next season.
If we don't get a competent goalie for the rest of the season we're missing the opportunity to find out if it is or isn't the goaltending. Missing an opportunity to compare how much is a goalie problem & how much is a defense problem.
If we're not going to get a goalie then let Schmid & Daws play. Put Gillies in Utica until their play. If we're gonna count on Mac & Bernier again next season then Daws/Schmid better be as best prepared as possible..
Just conceding that goalies were the problem, Mac/Bernier will be healthy next year, would be such a huge mistake. There's plenty of games left to learn a lot about the players & the team. At minimum prove or disprove that it's a goalie problem
Thank you for proving that the Devils would be in much better shape with good goaltending. We already are seeing it with Daws playing average. I think rushing Daws isn’t the best right now but there are literally no other options atm. Crazy how there were so many goalie options last offseason and we get crap luck with Berniers injury. This offseason the options are limited, even through trades. Hope we can find a solid option or Daws can continue to step up.
Very cool. I like exercise that help go from guesses or gut feelings to something more analytical. Thanks CJ—good stuff
Every theory starts with a hypothesis & then you try to prove or disprove it. Everything is pointing towards the problem being goaltending. Only way to prove or disprove that is for Fitzy to get off his ass & get a goalie. Goalies cost way less than skaters to trade for. We're not going to get a free agent worth a crap when we've got Mac & Bernier to compete with. So it's pretty much make a trade before the deadline, during the off-season, or we're gonna count on Mac & Bernier again next season.
If we don't get a competent goalie for the rest of the season we're missing the opportunity to find out if it is or isn't the goaltending. Missing an opportunity to compare how much is a goalie problem & how much is a defense problem.
If we're not going to get a goalie then let Schmid & Daws play. Put Gillies in Utica until their play. If we're gonna count on Mac & Bernier again next season then Daws/Schmid better be as best prepared as possible..
Just conceding that goalies were the problem, Mac/Bernier will be healthy next year, would be such a huge mistake. There's plenty of games left to learn a lot about the players & the team. At minimum prove or disprove that it's a goalie problem
Really good idea to explore. Thanks!
Great article CJ
I fell asleep after the 1st paragraph.
Thank you for proving that the Devils would be in much better shape with good goaltending. We already are seeing it with Daws playing average. I think rushing Daws isn’t the best right now but there are literally no other options atm. Crazy how there were so many goalie options last offseason and we get crap luck with Berniers injury. This offseason the options are limited, even through trades. Hope we can find a solid option or Daws can continue to step up.