Oh look, another article that bemoans the current state of Dallas’ goaltending. (Kinda not really.) If you go back in time and ask the me of late April if we start the 2016-17 season with both Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi, I’m pretty sure I’d have voted no.
I trust Jim Nill a lot, and I trusted him through most of the summer to upgrade our goaltending woes that led to the game 7 meltdown against the Blues. Despite buzz surrounding Ben Bishop and dreams of Henrik Lundqvist, it seems that I’m going to have to trust him a little while longer.
And why not? The goaltending duo that pretty much led to our ousting in the second round of the 2016 Playoffs actually had an excellent regular season. They had a regular season record of 50-23-9. They had a combined goals against average of 2.71 and a Sv% of .905. The real stand out number in this paragraph is the number of wins, which was good enough for first place in the Western Conference.
The real problem Nill faces in trading either goalie’s contracts are both time and term. Mike Heika outlined these issues in an article last spring:
Lehtonen has two years left on his contract at a cap hit of $5.9 million. Niemi has two years left on his contract at a cap hit of $4.5 million. Because of that, neither has equitable trade value in the market place. NHL rules allow that you can retain up to 50 percent of a player’s salary, and that could facilitate a trade, but things would be complicated.
Both time and term make it difficult to trade even one of our two mostly average goaltenders, especially in a market that seems determined to not get caught paying too much for the position. Consider, if you will, that Lehtonen currently makes more than Jonathan Quick, and that they both make more than Jake Allen, who they couldn’t beat in the second round. They also make more than two-time Stanley Cup Champion Marc-Andre Fleury, and BOTH of them are on our roster.
Jim Nill plays the long game. He’s proven that he’s willing to wait for the best deal possible, which tells me that Tampa’s holding out for a lot for Ben Bishop.
This article is about season expectations, but my expectation, honestly, is that one of Lehtonen or Niemi gets traded during the regular season. Instead of two seasons left on his contract, whichever it is will only have one and some change, which is a lot easier a pill to swallow for a prospective trade partner.
Prior to that, I really expect more of the same. Despite their faults when it mattered most to our playoff chances, Lehtonen and Niemi served up a very decent regular season. Their friendship has stood up to the pressures of being a 1A/1B goalie tandem and they genuinely root for each other’s successes. Those things are important to me as a fan, but I think also to the culture of the team as a whole.
Do I think we win a Cup with this goalie tandem? No. But I’m happy enough to have them take us through most of the season.