Kari Lehtonen Has One More Chance To Prove Himself

Kari Lehtonen was the first to acknowledge his mistakes and his disappointing year during his exit interview.

The 31 year old goalie was telling the truth. During the 2014-2015 season, he had his fair share of troubles. But he wasn’t the only one. The young and inexperienced defense in front of him had much to learn themselves and as a result left Lehtonen out to dry a couple of times.

Some Dallas Stars fans were quick to become hostile towards Lehtonen, asking for a trade in the upcoming offseason and for a fresh start this coming October.

The inevitable truth is that there are no logical scenarios where Kari Lehtonen could be moved for a different goalie in the upcoming offseason. There are too many teams happy with their starting goalies for the Stars to be able to make a move.

Even if Bleacher Report suggested that the New Jersey Devils could be going on a full rebuild and be into trading Cory Schneider (which I would advise you to never tell a Devils fan, as they believe that Schneider for Seguin is the only logical trade the two teams could make. I learned that enlightening fact yesterday), Kari Lehtonen wouldn’t be the only asset considering his age. The Stars would need to give up one or two more pieces.

So, what do you do with a 31-year-old starting goalie coming off the heels of a bad year with a huge contract attached? Well, the best answer is you give him another chance. At least one more chance.

Kari Lehtonen is signed with Dallas through the 2017-2018 season with a cap hit of $5.9 million. This contract is not one that most teams would want to pick up, especially with Lehtonen’s statistics from this past year.

Goaltending is considered the hardest job in ice hockey for multiple reasons. The fact that a game could all come down to one save or goal given up by you is bad enough. Not only that, but if your team in front of you is slumping and you have to pick up the slack, things can get rough. Whenever a team begins to struggle, the first thing fans point their finger at is goaltending. This season was a prime example of that.

Next: Kari Lehtonen Is Staying In Dallas; That's Not A Bad Thing

Kari Lehtonen knows he has to be better and he acknowledged it. That’s the first step to solving the problem. For the 2014-2015 season, Lehtonen tied his career high in wins with a record of 34-17-10. He had more wins and less losses than the 2013-2014 season when he helped Dallas to a playoff spot for the first time in six years. His save percentage was the lowest of his career at .903, while his goals against average sat at 2.94, the second worst of his career.

Lehtonen has taken a few downturns in his 11 year career. Each time he has, he’s found a way to improve the following season. Lehtonen will enter next season with the second best offense in the league, along with an experienced and potentially better blue line in front of him. There will be no excuses for Lehtonen next year, and he is fully expected to comply. He will.

“I believe he is. He did it for us last year. He got us into the playoffs last year and he needed to bounce back this year. It wasn’t all on him, a lot of it was the way we played early. He kind of went into a funk and he is the first one to admit it. He knows he has to be better just like everyone in this room knows they have to be better.” -Jim Nill on if Kari is the goaltender to lead Dallas to the playoffs

People point out Lehtonen’s past few seasons that have been riddled with injuries and that these are already causing him to deteriorate. If Jim Nill didn’t trust Lehtonen, he would have already found a way to swap him.

Lehtonen is likely unmovable this offseason, but that’s okay. Lehtonen needs one more chance. A team and a city should be able to trust in their starting goalie. Kari Lehtonen knows he owes Dallas that in a more consistent form. No more excuses. It’s time for him to prove it.

Next: Dallas Stars Free Agents: Who's Staying And Who's Going

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