Grading the Pens' Goalies
Mike Adams | Grade "A" Reviews
Jun 9, 10:58 AM | Hype this story!
All season long, I have been grading the Pens game by game. Today, I begin a look at the season as a whole, and how each individual player, as well as management, fared. I start by looking at the goalies.
But first, a reminder. Remember, these grades are versus expectations. That means it is much harder for a guy like Sidney Crosby to get an A than, say, Adam Hall. When I say “expectations,” I mean a combination of my expectations and fans’ expectations as a whole. You can also look at it as how well a player performed versus the role he was expected to fill.
That having been said, here are the goalies (everything will be done in alphabetical order).
Ty Conklin: A
He is somewhat lost in the wash now, but this guy, along with Evgeni Malkin, saved the Pens’ season. He brought a certain savoir faire to the goaltending position that we had not seen since Johan Hedberg. When Marc-Andre Fleury went down in early December, the recall of Conklin was but a blip on the radar screen. My, how things did change. After a couple poor starts by Dany Sabourin, Conklin stepped in against Boston and never gave the job up until Fleury returned in March. All he did is go 17-5-4 in his starts, with a 2.21 goals against average and a .933 save percentage. The guy was signed to be nothing more than a tutor for the young guys in Wilkes Barre-Scranton, and he comes up to Pittsburgh and saves the team from oblivion. His puck handling skills were a refreshing change, and his calm demeanor in net settled the team down. His play seemed to inspire Fleury to play the puck far better than he ever had. He is a phenomenal story who will now leave for greener pastures via free agency. But before he goes, we all owe him one last expression of gratitude. Thank you, Ty, for a job well done.
Marc-Andre Fleury: A-
What a strange season for the “goalie of the future” who showed he is fully ready to be the “goalie of the present.” He started off very poorly, to the point that Michel Therrien even took to benching him in favor of Sabourin at times. Just as he seemed to be rounding into shape in early December, he suffered the dreaded high ankle sprain against Calgary, an injury that would sideline him until late February. When he came back, he was a different goalie. He had suddenly morphed into a calm, cool, collected goalie who knew how to play the puck. A goalie who let the play come to him instead of scrambling out of position all the time. The transformation was amazing, and it sure did seem like the injury actually made him a better goalie. He learned from Conklin. He also knew that since his ankle was balky, he would have to compensate by being better technically. And was he ever! He earned himself a huge pay raise with his playoff performance, though his play in the Final was spotty. But he must be Shero’s top priority before July 1, or somebody will back up the armored truck to his house.
Dany Sabourin: C
He played exactly as I expected him to. He is a guy you can spot once every couple weeks and get away with it, but nothing more. He failed miserably in 6 starts right after Fleury went down (2-4-0, 3.36 GAA, .888 save percentage). He did have some good games early in the year when Fleury was struggling, but after Fleury’s injury, Sabourin played poorly (3.20 GAA). I expect him to be retained as a backup who plays about 10 games a year. Anything more than that means big trouble.
Coming soon: Defensemen.
Comments
Dabich
Jun 9, 11:11 AM
I’m just wondering, Mike, if the Pens should try to keep Conks and do something with Sabourin? Or is that scenario impossible? I don’t know what Sab’s contract says. Fill me in, please.
Ben Schmidt
Jun 9, 11:20 AM
Sabourin has a one-way contract that goes through next season, while Conklin is set to be an Unrestricted Free Agent.
Sabourin will be tough to trade, as he hasn’t proven himself well enough, and isn’t worth buying out, since the Pens can only buy out one more contract before the CBA is re-negotiated (max of 3 per CBA term, and the Pens have already bought out two contracts – Caron and Endicott). The team isn’t going to want to pay him an NHL salary to play in the AHL, especially since they aren’t likely to want to bump either Curry or Brown from their positions there at this point, so sending him down is pretty unlikely as well.
Hopefully Sabourin can improve his game, because the chance that he won’t be Fleury’s backup next season is pretty small. Conklin, on the other hand, is going to receive more money than the Pens could afford to pay him anyway to play elsewhere. And he’s earned it. I just hope that the Pens can bring Conklin back someday in the future as a goaltending coach after he retires as a player ;)
Mike Adams
Jun 9, 11:39 AM
Dabich,
Conklin will get offers for far more than the Pens can afford to pay a backup goalie who might only pay 10 games. There are enough teams out there with questionable goaltending that someone will offer him maybe $1.5 mil to come in and try to earn the job. Maybe a team like LA? In any case, the Pens aren’t going to pay to have three guys under contract. They need every penny they can find for guys like Hossa and Malone, and paying Conklin twice as much as Sabu gets now just isn’t an option.
Dabich
Jun 9, 12:58 PM
Well, that answers that…thanks, but it sucks! lol
Matt Bodenschatz
Jun 9, 01:08 PM
It’s not fun to see a backup of his caliber leave, but how many teams have that solid of a backup? Better yet, how many teams with a legitimate starter have a backup that plays more than, say 15 games? Not many. At this point, keeping Conklin would be a waste unless Fleury got hurt.
DS
Jun 9, 05:33 PM
I’m getting extremely depressed by the thought. I think it’s worth keeping him just for the sake of keeping MAF sharp (‘cause the new contract will sure do that…rolls eyes).
I know it’s a waste to keep him if he only gets 20 games, but I’m pretty sure Mike Smith got more than that in Dallas this year – and there was a really good article by Duhatschek with the theory that it might not be the greatest thing to have your guy playing 70 games when the playoffs roll around.
The goalie market’s not actually that great.
http://mirtle.blogspot.com/2008/04/goalie-free-to-good-home.html
(LA’s already dealing with 3 or 4 guys…). He may as well be our backup as anyone else’s. He likes it here and I’d think staying rather than being in a sixth place in two years would be a factor.
Barring somebody throwing stupid money his way, Sabu is cheap and a solid spot starter and could be moved just as easily.
...my heart is going to break July 1.
Matt Bodenschatz
Jun 9, 05:45 PM
DS, very valid points all around. The question is this, though: if the pens can’t deal Sabourin, how do they pay for both Conklin and Sabu? There’s no guarantee Sabu will be able to be moved, and that could be a problem. And that’s not even mentioning the $1 million plus that Conklin surely is going to get. Can the Pens really afford a million dollar backup when there are so many other pressing needs?
I like what Conklin brings as the backup — in terms of veteran leadership, experience, in-game talent, and ability to push Fleury to play his best. But I just don’t see him staying.
DS
Jun 9, 06:33 PM
If one is going to make half as much as the other, it would seem as though the cheaper one would be more easily moved, right?
No, there’s no guarantee.
But Dan Ellis is also a UFA, 4 years younger, and actually got to play in the playoffs.
This is the same Ty Conklin who was getting $100,000 to play in the AHL this year. For whatever reason, he was slipping when Fleury came back. You really think someone’s going to give him +10x as a raise?
The same just might hold true as earlier this year – he might be more valuable to us than to anyone else.
henkegbgskea
Jun 10, 02:44 AM
hi
Well i Conks is gone i feel no reason to keep Sabourin either.
If u cant trade him buy him out. We need a far better backupgoalie then Sabourin.
enough said.
=)
Matt Bodenschatz
Jun 10, 08:45 AM
DS, in my opinion the only way Conklin is re-signed is if they trade Sabourin first. But, to be honest, I think the team sees Sabourin as an adequate backup goalie, which he is. He’s not anyone you want to play on a regular basis, but to play maybe 15 games, I think he can handle that — and he’s extremely cheap, allowing the Penguins to save money for other, more needed areas.
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