On Campbell, Georgiev, and the Devils' goaltending carousel

With the off-season set to heat up, the Devils are being linked to a wide array of netminders.

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Let the off-season fun begin.

With the 2021-22 NHL campaign officially in the rearview, all 32 teams have turned their attention to building rosters for the season ahead.

At or near the top of the to-do list for the New Jersey Devils is revamping their goaltending.

Excluding the Seattle Kraken, no team posted a worse save percentage – or allowed more goals – than the Devils over the last two years.

Goaltending is undeniably a pressing need, which is why you’re going to see the Devils linked to a lot of different netminders in the weeks to come.

Larry Brooks of the New York Post was the latest prominent voice to get in on the fun. He suggested the Devils will be in the mix for starter Jack Campbell and, perhaps, the backup of their biggest rivals.

Excerpts below:

There is a fair amount of chatter from multiple industry sources that the Devils will be in on impending Toronto free agent goaltender Jack Campbell if he hits the open market on July 13.

…

We’re hearing as well that the Devils could have interest in Alex Georgiev if he becomes unrestricted this summer, but likely as part of a tandem operation rather than as a No. 1.

I’ll start with Campbell because he is the bigger fish.

Over the last three seasons he solidified himself as, at worst, a solid platoon goaltender.

Among 49 eligible netminders (3,000+ minutes played), Campbell tied for 20th with a .920 save percentage at 5v5. That put him on level pegging with Marc-Andre Fleury, Frederik Andersen, and Jake Oettinger. Pretty good!

There is definitely some smoke and mirrors in those numbers, though. Campbell’s high-danger save percentage at 5v5 was just .799, good for 47/49. He also conceded 180 goals on 173 expected, according to NaturalStatTrick.

That aligns with Evolving-Hockey’s numbers. They have Campbell at -9.9 GSAx over the last three seasons, although that accounts for all gamestates.

I’m not suggesting Campbell wouldn’t be an upgrade. Allowing ~3 goals more than expected per season is not a substantial amount; there were plenty of nights the Devils’ starter did that in a single game.