Dallas Stars: Kari Lehtonen Served In Vital Role For Organization

This past summer, the Dallas Stars parted ways with one of their most influential players of the past decade after deciding not to re-sign Kari Lehtonen. And though it may have been the best move for the franchise, it in no way diminishes his legacy.

Attempting to sum up the last decade for the Dallas Stars franchise is quite the tall task.

Since their last trip to the Western Conference Finals in 2008, the Stars have undergone quite a significant culture shock. There have been management changes, coaching changes, logo and jersey updates, and a complete roster overhaul. And even that list is just skimming the surface.

Dallas has quite simply become a completely new hockey team over the past decade. Unfortunately, the constant changing due to inconsistent play has left the club with just two playoff appearances in ten years.

But throughout the majority of those ten years, there’s been two players at center stage for it all. One of them is Jamie Benn, the current captain and former fifth-round pick of the Dallas Stars that debuted in October 2009.

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The other one is Kari Lehtonen, who was traded to Dallas in that same season and made his debut in March 2010. And while Benn’s legacy is still growing and building, Lehtonen’s is defined and absolute.

Simply put, Kari Lehtonen served in a vital role for the Dallas Stars organization and will go down as one of the best goalies in franchise history. His presence over the last few seasons was not only perfectly timed for the Stars’ situation, but also gave them a promising backstop to trust in.

And yet, Lehtonen will also go down as one of the most criticized players in Dallas Stars history. That could be for a few different reasons.

The first reasoning behind this criticism is that Dallas fans wanted a perfect goalie. As every hockey fan knows, hockey games more often than not come down to which goaltender is the more skilled and successful. You’ve probably never heard of a team winning the Stanley Cup with a subpar performance from their crease. Dallas fans wanted a goalie that would stand on his head and singlehandedly carry the Stars to the Stanley Cup Final, and that didn’t happen. But that isn’t necessarily on Lehtonen.

Another reason is that his peak production didn’t perfectly line up with the development of the rest of the team. While the Dallas management was trying to build a roster worthy of contending, Lehtonen was putting up some of his best numbers and keeping the team in the fight. But once the roster was finally built properly, it was clear that Lehtonen was slowly hitting a regression.

But regardless of the criticism and dissatisfaction that many fans held towards him (which is similar to the anger that Dallas Cowboys fans held against Tony Romo for so many years), there’s no denying that Lehtonen played a crucial role in getting the Dallas Stars to where they are now.

On March 4, 2010, Kari Lehtonen made his debut as a Star. It wasn’t the easiest situation, either. After being traded from an Atlanta Thrashers team in the middle of a playoff race to a Dallas team in the midst of their own playoff struggle, Lehtonen was asked to assume a new role behind a new group and make a playoff run out of it. The only problem was that he was backstopping for a defensive core consisting primarily of players no longer in the league either because of age or a lack of overall talent.

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And in addition to that, the writing was on the wall that Lehtonen was expected to be the “starter of the future” for Dallas. With Marty Turco‘s contract expiring after nine solid seasons with the franchise, the Stars had traded for Lehtonen as the younger option with the hope that he would pan out as a proven winner. He had put up decent numbers in his first few NHL seasons with the Atlanta Thrashers, but transitioning to a new team is never easy.

Lehtonen’s career in Dallas began with the team missing the playoffs. And things didn’t get much better in 2010-11, 2011-12, or 2012-13 as the Stars built up a five-year playoff drought. But while the club struggled to find their footing and ended up hiring a new manager in Jim Nill to try and solve the problem, Lehtonen was there to carry the load.

Through those three seasons, he posted a record of 81-60-18 along with a .917 save percentage and 2.49 goals against average. That’s the fourth-best save percentage and eighth-best GAA of any goaltender that played in at least 160 games over the same span.

Those are solid numbers, especially when your team gives up the tenth-most shots per game (30.8) while taking the third-least shots per game (27.6) of any team in the league.

Even in 2013-14 when Nill finally helped right the ship and build a roster worthy of fighting for a playoff spot, Lehtonen was still there at the age of 30. He played in the most games of any NHL net-minder that season with 65 under his belt and posted a 33-20-10 record along with a .919 SV%, 2.41 GAA, and five shutouts. Once again, he posted top-ten numbers in a tough situation and helped will a newly-built Dallas Stars team to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Now, his record isn’t altogether spotless. In 2014-15, his numbers as starter were pretty subpar (.903 SV%, 2.94 GAA), even if he did tie a career-high in wins with 34. That also happened to be one of the Stars’ worst years defensively, though.

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As Lehtonen approached the later stages of his career in Dallas, the Stars once again underwent some unique transitions. In 2015-16, he and Antti Niemi helped lift Dallas to the best record in the Western Conference. But in 2016-17, the duo floundered and turned in one of the worst records in the conference.

In 2017-18, Lehtonen spent his last ride with the Stars as a backup to newly-acquired starter Ben Bishop. And while his numbers looked good from the backup role, he couldn’t carry the load when asked to serve as the starter in the final month of the year. As a result, Dallas missed the postseason for the second year in a row, Lehtonen’s five-year extension signed back in 2012 expired, and the writing seemed to be on the wall for the 34-year-old.

Nill and the Dallas Stars spent part of July 1, 2018 signing veteran goaltender Anton Khudobin to a two-year deal. The signing painted a picture of the Stars’ crease for the next two seasons and also signaled the end of an era. That may be a real shame, but it’s the nature of the business.

But still, Kari Lehtonen will go down as one of the most under-appreciated goalies in franchise history. His final stat line for his time in Dallas looks like this:

445 GP, 422 GS, 216-150-50 record, .912 save percentage, 2.63 goals against average, 24 shutouts, 23 points (all assists)

That puts him at second all-time in Stars history in games played, second in wins, first in save percentage (among goalies that played in more than 110 games), and first in points (if that matters to you). All solid records that will definitely keep his name littered across the Stars’ record books for years to come.

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Perhaps what is the most impressive part of Lehtonen’s tenure in Dallas, though, was that he spent much of his time as a “goalie of one.” In other words, he rarely had a competent backup goaltender that remained with the organization for more than a year or two. For much of his nine years, Lehtonen was the “it” factor.

Andrew Raycroft served as backup in a very disappointing fashion for Lehtonen’s first two years as starter. Richard Bachman also chipped in, but didn’t make it past the lockout season of 2013.

Dan Ellis and Tim Thomas split time in 2013-14, but neither posted a save percentage higher than .902 and both had records below .500. Maybe that’s why Lehtonen played in more games that season than any other NHL goalie?

Anders Lindback was an utter disaster in 2014-15 and was replaced briefly by Jhonas Enroth, who departed in free agency after 13 games with the organization.

And then there was the Antti Niemi experiment from 2015 to 2017. Though there was an incredibly bright period for the team in part of that span, Niemi’s overall save percentage of .900 in Dallas did little to help the club. And now, the Stars are still paying off his contract buyout from last summer.

Having a solid one-two punch in the crease that is consistent for at least 3-5 years at a time ends up paying dividends in building a firm and sturdy crease. Take a look at the creases of the last five Stanley Cup winners for further proof. Lehtonen never had a true chance to access that opportunity.

Another disappointing factor was the timing of Lehtonen’s progression. When Lehtonen was at his peak performance level, the Dallas Stars were largely comprised of average talent with substantial holes visible throughout their lineup. But once Nill assumed control and finally began building a contender, it was clear that Lehtonen was nearing the end of his days of top production.

Now, Lehtonen wasn’t necessarily a Vezina-caliber goaltender. That can be chopped up to a few different things, but the point is that he’s not a Henrik Lundqvist or Carey Price.

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Yes, his lack of consistency was discouraging at times. Yes, his most recent contract might have included a steep price tag considering the return that Dallas got in those five years. And yes, Lehtonen’s two playoff performances with Dallas weren’t necessarily something to write home about (8-7-0, .893 SV%, 3.00 GAA).

But that’s not what should be remembered as Dallas Stars fans tip their hat one last time to Kari Lehtonen. That’s because for the past nine seasons, Lehtonen has been the goaltender. Maybe he wasn’t the goaltender that Stars fans wanted at certain points, but he’s definitely the one that the team needed.

Lehtonen’s presence through an overwhelmingly uncertain and disappointing period in Dallas Stars history was irreplaceable. He largely served as the glue that held the franchise together both as they tried to find their footing and when they managed to usher in a new era.

And with the hustle and bustle of the 2018 offseason, his departure was somewhat swept under the rug. But it would be unfair to both Lehtonen and his legacy to not take one last proper look at the Big Finn and the impact he had on the franchise and the hockey movement in Texas. It’s one that cannot and should not be forgotten.

You may have loved him and gleefully boasted your “Keep Calm And Kari On” pride. Or, you may become sickened with seeing no. 32 in the crease over the past few seasons. However you felt,  it’s hard to argue that he didn’t play a significantly crucial role for the team.

With that, here’s one last tip of the hat and testament to his legacy in the Stars crease. He earned it with his play and dedication to the organization in its most pressing times.

Kari Lehtonen has become synonymous with the Dallas Stars crease over the past few seasons, which will make 2018-19 even more odd with his absence. But the memories, records, and influence will remain.

“This is home,” Lehtonen said following his final home game as a Star back in March. “And this is going to be my family’s home after I’m done playing, too. It’s a big part of our lives and it’s an awesome place.”

If this is the end of a long and winding NHL career for Lehtonen, then it was one well-spent. He may not have lifted the Cup, but he earned the respect and trust of a franchise that truly needed him. And for many players, that’s a significant achievement in and of itself.