Eurolanche

Importance of a Goaltending Pipeline

Having a goaltending pipeline is more than just drafting or signing free agent prospects then sticking them in the system. There’s development, putting them in positions to learn, and making sure you never put all your eggs into one basket.

Because I am a Colorado Avalanche fan I will be using the Avalanche as the main example to illustrate my various points. So let’s begin.

We’ll look at what is the point in even having a goaltending pipeline. You look at teams that have young starters such as the Avalanche, the Canadiens or even a consistently elite goalie like the Rangers have in Henrik Lundqvist. You see them and think to yourself, what’s the point of even drafting a goalie when I have this top 5 goalie in the NHL already? Price, Varlamov, Holtby, etc. they aren’t just going to fall off of a cliff, so what is the point?

The point is you need depth at every position in the NHL and since goaltending is arguably the most important position in the game then you definitely need depth there. The NHL is too competitive to just declare a season to be over because you lost your starter. Losing your starting goalie should no longer be an excuse for a team to just fall down the standings at an alarming rate. And most NHL GM’s realize that which is why there has been a movement towards the ideal goalie depth chart:

NHL Starter>1B NHL Backup>Young AHL Starter>AHL Vet>Newly Turned Pro in ECHL>One Euro/NCAA based goalie & One Junior Goalie

Why is this the ideal goaltending depth chart? Because you have safeguards at both the pro and junior level. No matter what happens theoretically there is a replacement for whatever goalie either goes down with an injury or starts to falter. Going back to the Avalanche here is there depth chart when all goalies are healthy:

Varlamov>Berra>Pickard>Will>Martin>Pajpach

As seen here by the Avalanche depth chart they are as close as possible to the ideal goaltending depth chart. This isn’t a surprise however as the Avalanche have been dedicated to creating an elite goalie development system within the organization since Francois Allaire was brought on board. The only weaknesses in the Avalanche goalie depth chart is there is no AHL veteran to take the pressure off of the young starter and the Avalanche currently only have one goalie out of the pro system in Max Pajpach.

The 1B NHL back up goalies is a new and emerging trend in the NHL. Not only are the Avalanche employing this new goalie, there are many other teams as well such as the Tampa Bay Lightning,  Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers, Edmonton Oilers, Anaheim Ducks, New York Islanders, Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues, Winnipeg Jets, and the Montreal Canadiens. It’s also a successful trend where if the starter is injured the 1B goalie is able to step in and provide the goaltending needed for a team to win.

Possibly the most underrated part of the goalie depth chart is having two goalies outside of the pro system at all times. Sooner or later your young AHL goalie will need a chance to make the NHL or be moved out of the system which leaves an open spot in either the AHL or ECHL for a new goalie to come up in the pro system due to their junior eligibility running out.

It’s a constant cycle regarding the goalie position because there is only so much ice time to go around at every level. You can’t have three young goalies with a high potential fighting over one starting spot in the AHL. It’s a gamble that could leave one goalie in the dust due to one of the other goalies getting the AHL starting job and running with it. It’s also not a good idea due to the fact they are young goalies and therefore are susceptible to being inconsistent. That is where an AHL veteran can take over the crease for the time being and not affecting the team’s overall performance.

Which means you need to stagger the drafting of your goalies and where you draft a goalie from. Going back to the Colorado Avalanche as an example we have Spencer Martin playing in his first pro season. That leaves Max Pajpach as the only goalie right now that can replace Martin when in three seasons Spencer Martin is either no longer apart of the Avalanche organization or in the NHL.

And while I have no opinion on whether or not Pajpach can ever become a NHL goalie, you never put all your faith into one goalie. Especially a 19yo goalie who has lost a whole year of development. So at the next draft a goalie needs to be drafted by the Avalanche in order to avoid a worst case scenario where they have no back-up plan for either Varlamov or Pickard.

Once you start developing gaps in your goaltending pipeline you end up in situations like the Avalanche did after Patrick Roy retired. Or you end up like the Edmonton Oilers who needed to make a trade for Laurent Brossoit in order to solidify their goaltending pipeline because they didn’t start one when they first started their rebuild.

While it can seem crazy to be planning that far out, as a fan you can look back on any teams history and see where a proper goaltending pipeline either worked out or would have come in handy. If you look back a decade ago at the Avalanche all you had was false hope. Now you are looking at a wealth of riches in the crease with Semyon Varlamov, Reto Berra, Calvin Pickard and Spencer Martin. That is the difference when you actually focus on goaltending rather than just assuming goalies are voodoo and sooner or later one will turn into a star.

So in conclusion success in net starts with constructing the ideal goaltending pipeline and from there is where you start placing the pieces. No more can you just draft and hope for the best. You need a plan, you need to develop and you need to select the proper goalies to fit your vision. I’ve covered the first part in this article. The other two items (develop and drafting/signing) will be coming later.

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