bustaheims said:
cw said:
bustaheims said:
https://twitter.com/reporterchris/status/1736099807301636241
Cap hit is $1.5m on an expiring deal. Could be a stopgap option - though, he has been terrible this year.
I find goaltending confounding at times.
His was another recent case I looked at. I'd looked at him before.
He was about .918 save %, 2.50GAA (roughly) for his career.
.911 save%, 2.30 GAA (roughly) over the last two seasons
Helped Andersson win a Jennings in '22.
He took a discount this summer to stay with the 'Canes after a decent few seasons.
Now on a decent team and he's suddenly .854 save% & 3.61 GAA?
Suddenly, he hits a wall.
I couldn't find a recent injury that explained it though he has had many injuries.
Things happen for a reason. Something must be amiss.
I?ve found with goalies that it doesn?t take much for them to completely lose it near the end of their careers. A fraction of a second slower reaction time, a tiny bit less flexibility, etc., can be all it takes for it to be the end of the line for them. That could be what?s going on with Raanta. I don?t know. It?s a low risk pick up for someone to try him out for a little while to see if maybe a change of scenery gets him going again for a bit. Maybe a different system could compensate for some of the areas he?s regressed in, but it could just be that he?s aged out of the NHL.
That might be as good an explanation as any.
Goalies tend to take time to develop. Some age pretty well.
He's 34 - not what I would regard as "old" for a goalie. Maybe my impression is wrong.
In the age of Roy, Hasek, Brodeur & Belfour - those guys seemed to be good for years.
Hellebuyck won a Vezina and then had pockets of shakiness. Still a good goalie but for a period, some of the shine came off.
Shesterkin won a Vezina. Quick is having a resurgence few could imagine. But Leafs lit Shesterkin up and his at .902 save% does not remind anyone of his Vezina caliber. I still regard him as one of the better goalies.
Since the 2005 lockout, the position seems to have become less predictable or reliable. Goalies always have been tough to draft. But once you got a good one, you seemed to be set for a while. Now, it seems to be more of a rollercoaster ride.
Look at poor Jack Campbell. He finally looks like he's found his game. $25 mil contract ... playing sub .900 in the AHL.
Samsonov. Dumped by Washington. Finds his game last season. Fighting to keep his NHL job this season.
Demko prior yr then last yr vs this yr. Toilet seat up and down.
Vasilevskiy clearly defies the rollercoaster. But we do not seem to see many like him.
There does seem to be a trend that the Vezina winners are younger now. Which supports your theory about Raanta hitting a wall when he slowed down a bit with age.
Maybe it is coming full circle. Decades ago, reaction time was a big deal. How quick the goalies glove hand was for example. The position then migrated to be more positional, butterfly/techniques and bigger goalies and equipment. Maybe that is what allowed the older goalies to hang around longer ... but isn't enough now.
I looked at Raanta's stats/history/etc last fall and think 'ok, the Canes are set with that backup. He's decent' - on a team with the 2nd best GAA in the league last year. 30 games in and he's a bum headed to the AHL and their other goalies are sub .900
I'm surprised we don't see more GMs with their hair pulled out along with the sports betting companies having fits.
