NHL teams in the cap era spend most of the goalie dollars on the starter, with backup money being around $1 million for many clubs. The backups are expected to start fewer games—15 to 30 in a normal year—and fill in adequately for injury problems or slumps.
Hockey clubs are always morphing, and that includes depth charts at each position. Some of the highly paid veterans are fading due to age, injury or bad luck. Some backups are gaining the confidence of their coaches, and other teams have top prospects ripping up the minor leagues.
Backup goalies need openings to push their way past the trusted starters. A prolonged team slump or injury to the No. 1 man are the more traditional ways of getting it done, and there are rare times when the backup simply passes the starter on superior performance—we may be seeing that now with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Here are the backup goalies who could emerge as starting netminders if things break right in 2016-17.
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Article written by Allan Mitchell
Backup NHL Goaltenders Most Likely to Become Starters in 2016-17
October 21st, 2016 by Allan Mitchell Leave a reply »
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