Taking stock of goaltending options for the New Jersey Devils

Which netminders may be available? How are they performing? Who would be worth the cost? Let's take a closer look!

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The New Jersey Devils have won seven of their past 10 games and gotten serviceable goaltending during that span.

Although the team’s high-danger save percentage has still been low, the overall level of play has improved.

Akira Schmid has posted a positive GSAx number in five of his past six showings. Meanwhile, Vitek Vanecek just produced save percentages above .900 in back-to-back games (.920 followed by .958) for the first time all season.

This has quieted some of the noise around the team’s goaltending situation and made an immediate upgrade less of a priority.

That is a good thing given the state of the market. Some the goaltenders whose names have frequently popped up as trade candidates simply aren’t getting the job done right now while others come attached with crazy high prices, in terms of contract and/or the cost of acquisition.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the names that have been thrown out there in recent weeks or months.

John Gibson

The story with Gibson this year is the same as the past few seasons. He started the season in spectacular fashion but has seen his level of play fall off after a month of playing behind a putrid Ducks defense.

Although his total GSAx numbers still look strong, Gibson has finished six of his past nine games under ground in that regard.

His total season save percentage now sits at .905, barely ahead of Akira Schmid – who had his numbers completely tanked by one horrendous showing against the Sharks.

Sure, it’s reasonable to suggest Gibson’s numbers would improve behind a better and more structured team in New Jersey.

But with 3.5 seasons remaining at a $6.4 million annual price point, the Devils would have to jump through a lot of hoops to make a deal work. I’m not sure it’s worth it even though Gibson would be an upgrade.

Karel Vejmelka