John Gibson carries too much risk for the New Jersey Devils

If Tom Fitzgerald is set on acquiring a goaltender, he'd probably be smart to pass on Gibson. Alex Chauvancy examines why in his latest.

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By Alex Chauvancy (@AlexC_THW)

If the New Jersey Devils make one more move to end the 2023 off-season, odds are it'll be for a goaltender.

They've had their name tied to Connor Hellebuyck since before the NHL Draft, and it wouldn't be a surprise if they were keeping an eye on the Boston Bruins, depending on what Jeremy Swayman's next contract looks like. 

While those would be the main targets to focus on for the Devils acquiring a goaltender, there's also John Gibson.

Much has been made about his future with the Anaheim Ducks, and he's regularly popped up on trade boards this summer.

He has struggled behind a porous Ducks defense for a few seasons. Perhaps a change of scenery would do him well. But even if that's the case, he shouldn't be on Devils' radar this summer. 

The case against acquiring Gibson

On the final 32 Thoughts episode for this NHL season, Elliotte Friedman talked about Gibson and the Ducks needing to find a solution to their current situation. Friedman mentioned the Devils in that section but didn't specifically tie them to Gibson.

Instead, he mentioned how everyone is wondering what the Devils will do in net. Will they run it back with Akira Schmid and Vitek Vanecek, or will they make a move? Although that part happened to be in the segment about Gibson, Friedman didn't specifically say the Devils had interest in him.

Everyone knows about the Devils' interest in Hellebuyck at this point. It's easy to see why some might think they'd be a player for Gibson. He's still only 29 years old and might be an upgrade over Vanecek and Schmid...at least in some people's eyes. 

While there's a chance Gibson could benefit from a change of scenery, reaching the elite level he did four to five years ago doesn't seem like a good bet to make.

Over the last four seasons, he's totalled a .902 save percentage. That is right around the league average after the 2022-23 campaign. 

When looking at his underlying numbers over that stretch, Gibson has struggled quite a bit and has not been a league-average netminder. He has given up 36.1 goals above expected, one of the worst marks in the league: