This summer poses a lot of questions for the Dallas Stars. One of the more important questions has to do with finding the perfect backup goaltender. After all, it’s been a while since the franchise has boasted one.
It’s no secret that some of the biggest problems for the Dallas Stars over the past few seasons have dealt with goaltending. And without quality goaltending, a hockey team cannot take the next step.
The last few years have been a bit of a rollercoaster for the Stars’ crease. Ever since Marty Turco and Kari Lehtonen backstopped to close out the 2009-10 season, it’s been a whirlwind. But not in a necessarily good way.
While the Dallas defense did very little to help out over the span, the Stars’ goaltending was just as iffy. Kari Lehtonen served as the starter for all but one season (this past year) and took on a lot of the blame for the team’s inadequate play over the years. Calls for him to be traded or to be replaced as the starter were common and frequent.
But a lot of the blame was wrongfully directed towards no. 32 over the years. Not only was the defense in front of him unbalanced during most seasons, but the lack of a competent backup goaltender to aid Lehtonen in his downtime hurt the team all the more.
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Since the 2011-12 season, the Dallas Stars have burnt through an inordinate amount of backups. Names like Andrew Raycroft, Richard Bachman, Dan Ellis, Tim Thomas, Anders Lindback, Jhonas Enroth, and Antti Niemi have all cycled through the Dallas lineup. But not one of them lasted more than two seasons. That’s a problem.
After all, it takes strong goaltending to win in today’s NHL. But that strength is a two-headed monster. Very rarely can one goaltender carry the load throughout the entire regular season and postseason.
Take the Nashville Predators for example. Pekka Rinne was a prime catalyst in the team’s success during the regular season. But just alongside him was Juuse Saros, who played in 26 regular season games and turned in a .925 save percentage. Saros also helped out significantly in the postseason. That’s a two-headed monster. And as a result, the Predators won The President’s Trophy this past season.
Or when Marc-Andre Fleury went down with an injury at the beginning of this season, leaving Vegas with a hole in the crease. Both Malcolm Subban and Maxime Lagace stepped in to help out. And look at what happened to Vegas.
It takes two to tango in the typical NHL crease. This past season, the Dallas Stars thought they had finally cracked the code. They brought in Ben Bishop to be the new starter and moved Kari Lehtonen to the backup role. Both thrived in their respective spots and provided Dallas with a chance to win for much of the year.
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But when Bishop missed the last month of the season with a lower-body injury, everything went downhill. Lehtonen couldn’t hold up as the regular starter anymore, the team around him slowed down, and Dallas removed themselves from playoff contention.
That cannot happen again. And that’s why many are expecting the Stars to go and find yet another new goaltender this summer. But this time, they need to fix the problem once and for all.
The Dallas Stars are in an interesting spot right now. Though they missed the playoffs for the second straight season, their lineup is still very capable of competing and pushing for a Cup in the near future. The talent is there. All that’s missing is a few minor but important pieces. One of those is a backup goaltender.
If the Stars are going after a new backup goaltender this summer, GM Jim Nill must be sure to make the right choice. There’s no more time to delay in picking the wrong goaltender and facing yet another year of coming up short due to mistimed decisions. If they can find one in free agency, go for it. If they need to make a trade, that’s okay too.
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But a backup goaltender is essential in today’s NHL. When a starter goes down with an injury or hits a rough patch, a team must have a capable backup who can take on the load. It’s time that the Dallas Stars finally had one of their own. The 2018 summer will be the perfect time to find one.