One of the most important and underrated positions in hockey is the backup goaltender. The Dallas Stars have learned this painful lesson in a variety of ways over the past few seasons. And that’s why they have to make the right choice when searching for their newest one this summer.
The Dallas Stars and backup goaltending haven’t mixed together well over the past few years. But then again, there’s been quite a few things that the Stars haven’t been able to master over the past few years (see poor drafting, defensive structure, coaching, etc.)
But finding a competent goaltending duo has proven to be quite the daunting task for the franchise. Ever since Marty Turco and Mike Smith backstopped the team to the Western Conference Finals in 2008, something has been off in the crease.
And since then, Dallas has cycled through an excessive amount of duos. While Kari Lehtonen served as the starter for the majority of the past decade, the backup always seemed to be a gamble. Names like Andrew Raycroft, Richard Bachman, Dan Ellis, Tim Thomas, Anders Lindback, Jhonas Enroth, and even Antti Niemi have come and gone over the past few years.
But there’s never been a stable backup that the Dallas Stars could rest on. Not one of their backups over the past decade lasted more than two seasons with the organization. Whether they were simply a short-term option or didn’t perform up to the expected standards is beside the point. The bottom line is that the Stars cannot seem to get it right when searching for the correct backup to fulfill the team’s needs.
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Kari Lehtonen was the most recent wrong answer.
After serving as the starter for seven seasons, the 34-year-old shifted to the backup role last summer after the Stars brought in Ben Bishop.
But it wasn’t Lehtonen’s play as the backup that was the concern. Instead, it was his longevity in the crease that turned a good year upside down. When Bishop was sidelined by an injury in early March, Lehtonen was asked to shift back into the role of full-time starter. In the end, he wasn’t able to carry a struggling team as they fell out of the playoff race via a drastic losing skid. He finished the season with a .912 save percentage and 2.56 goals against average.
And though Lehtonen may be taking a bullet for the team because of their lacking play, the fact of the matter is that he couldn’t carry the load when the Stars needed him most. Unfortunately, that’s one quality that a backup goaltender must possess. As a result, the pending UFA likely won’t be back in Dallas next year.
If that is the case, the search is once again on for the Dallas Stars as they hunt for a backup that can check all of the boxes. The Stars are in a solid position with the build of their team and could make a push as early as next year. But they will need to pick the right backup goaltender if they want that to happen. After all, it’s a critical position that is often overlooked. If you look at the successful teams in the NHL (including the Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals), a common thread between them is that they all own two “starting-caliber” goaltenders.
The Stars must find one this summer to serve as their next backup. There is no time to make another wrong decision and lose another precious year with the current roster.
Luckily for GM Jim Nill, there are a handful of options on the market that could be an ideal solution for Dallas. Let’s take a look at a couple of them.