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Zach Vanasse
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The Forum: The Back-Up Goalie Plan
After the 2015-2016 season was derailed by the absence of Carey Price and the lack of a viable back-up, today we ask, should the Canadiens go after a veteran back-up goalie, or hope Price can stay healthy and stick with Mike Condon, and/or late-season college signing Charlie Lindgren?
Kyle (@kyleroussel) – Maybe I’m as silly as Habs management by going down the “do nothing” road, but I’m willing to let Condon hang on to the back-up role to start the season. Price can’t get seriously injured again, can he? And if he does, I feel like there’s always a veteran backup available, and if Price ends up on the long term IR, then Bergevin can get some help at that time. I really think he needs to spend his time and energy adding offensive help in the top 6 forwards rather than search for a back-up goalie.
Antoine (@HabsoluteTruth) – On one hand, Montreal already has a ton of money tied up to the defensive aspect of the game (most money invested in their defensive squad this season) so I don’t know if adding another 1.75M-2M on a solid reliable back-up à la James Reimer or Thomas Greiss would be a great idea. We are missing two top six forwards and with our GM being reluctant to overpay in trades, I think our best shot at landing said forwards are via free agency. With that in mind, that extra million being given to a top tier back-up could be the difference between us landing a Loui Eriksson/Kyle Okposo (6.5M) and settling for a Mikkel Boedker instead (5.25M).
On the other hand, we (and the management) are going to have to start accepting the fact that Price may be injury prone. Other than last year, Price hasn’t played a full season without injury problems since 2010-11. The bigger cause for concern is that most of that time off due to injury has been due to knee or groin issues, which are not freak accidents. The NHL is as tight as ever, so losing your starter for even a month can be the difference between making and missing the playoffs. If the Flyers or Islanders didn’t have a good back-up this year, they definitely miss the playoffs. I think that if Price is officially deemed as ‘injury prone’ management will have no choice but to pay the premium price for a top tier back-up. This season was unbearable and the management or fans can’t afford to go through the same failure two seasons in a row just because they lost their top player due to injury.
With all that said, personally, I don’t think the team should pursue a back-up. All things considered, Condon did a more than an okay job as temporary starter. Before Petry got hurt, the team was playing decent in front of him and, given the situation Condon was put into, I think it’d be unreasonable to expect him to carry this team into the playoffs. I think this pas season has been the most benefitial for Condon out of anybody on this team.
Kyle (@kyleroussel) – You bring up a very interesting point, and one that has crossed my mind more than once over the last year or so….we DO need to consider the possibility that Price is damaged goods. Fans don’t want to talk about it, but it’s now a very real possibility. Price hasn’t completed a season for five years, and each of the last three (or four?) have ended with him on the shelf. That’s not comforting, considering he IS the franchise. He is plan A-to-Z. With just two seasons left until he’s UFA, a very crucial time approaches. Begin searching for the “next” one, or hitch your wagon long term to someone who is unbelievably good when healthy, and almost universally adored. We can always console ourselves knowing that Markov was once considered damaged goods, but has seemingly overcome his huge knee issues to remain one of the league’s better point producing defensemen.
Ian (@ihabs1995) – Well, first we have to take a look at what’s out there as far as veteran free agent goaltenders. To me, the pickings seem slim. Can Ward anyone? Chad Johnson? Karri Ramo? I know everyone’s target backup goaltender is James Riemer, but why would he come to Montreal to be a backup? He had a career year. He’s going to cash in and be a starting goaltender somewhere (Calgary, maybe?).
From a Canadiens standpoint, I wouldn’t go after any free agent goalie for one reason: We don’t really know if Price is still hurt. Why waste the cap space on a veteran goalie who will ride the pine for 80 percent of the year? In Price’s Hart season, he played 66 games and did not injure himself. He can play through a campaign without hurting himself, he’s shown us it’s possible.
If he does get hurt, it would be better for Montreal to acquire via trade, but I think standing pat on goaltending would be just fine
Antoine (@HabsoluteTruth) – You raise some valid points, but how often do we see goalies get moved during the regular season? Teams are rarely in a position where they can afford to sacrifice NHL depth between the pipes. Raycroft, Bernier, Halak, Varlamov, Bobrovsky, Talbot, Schneider, Jones were all traded in the off-season. Sure sometimes those trades happen (Luongo, Lehtonen, Bishop, Anderson, Huet, Dubnyk, Miller) but they are hard to come by with the salary cap and those names carrying heavy cap hits. Plus, if that were to happen, Bergevin would obviously be in a position of weakness in the negotiations and would have to overpay to replace Price.
CJ (@CJ_Casselman) – I believe that coming off such a significant injury and given his previous injuries, Price can’t be leaned upon so heavily going forward. One of Lindgren or Condon needs to really step up as they will need to handle somewhere around 30 regular season games next year, or more, depending on Price’s health.
Unless Bergevin unloads contracts this offseason, and in this salary cap era that’s a big ask, I don’t see much help from outside the organization. The coaching staff is essentially unchanged at both the NHL and AHL. With the exception of what I might consider a secondary move (trading Eller) I don’t see a lot of change to the lineup, including goaltending.
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