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Jonathan Quick #32
Age: 28
Contract Status: Forever. $5.8MM AAV through 2022-23
Stats:
His Season:
I have been somewhat dreading this evaluation. Why? Because Jonathan Quick is, how you say, a mixed bag to me. First off, he is an outstandingly athletic goaltender. He makes saves that no one has business making. He will rob players of assured goals, make save after save when he should be pulling the puck out of the net, and he will steal a game for you. At the same time, Quick is capable of having games that are completely baffling, with a save percentage sub .900. On the year Quick only had a .915 save percentage, which was good enough for 17th amongst starters playing more than 40 games. Pretty rough right? Especially for a goalie who is regularly talked about as one of the best in the world. Granted, Quick had injury problems both during and after the season. During the year he missed a significant amount of time with a groin tear, and after the season it was revealed he was dealing with a bum wrist
which required surgery. The latter injury occurred during the second round of the playoffs against the Anaheim Ducks, presumably from
punching Corey Perry in the manhood . An injury worth sustaining, no question.
Really though, that is the essence of Quick. He is his style, if you follow what I mean. He is an overtly aggressive goaltender. He is erratic at times. Spectacular at times. Live by the sword and die by the sword though. The same style that can cause him to come up with otherworldly saves can also make him overcommit, get off his angle, and come out and play the puck when it isn't necessary. We see examples of all of the above time and time again over the course of the year. This year was no different.
He had an average save percentage, a solid goals against, and had a playoff run that was mired in inconsistency. Quick had a .911 save percentage in the post season, and many were wondering if he should have been lifted in the Sharks series after the team got down 0-3. However, he played arguably his best hockey of the postseason when it came to the last 4 games of the Sharks series, and the Kings overcame the impossible largely thanks to the play of their netminder. The rest of the playoffs was a mixed bag, as usual, as the Ducks, Rangers, and Blackhawks series all had moments and games of brilliance followed by inconsistent defeats. The question to me is, what Jonathan Quick is the real Jonathan Quick?
Quick will forever be compared to his 2011-12 numbers, and that isn't exactly fair. Many consider him the best goalie in the world, up there with Henrik Lundqvist and Tuuka Rask. The reality of it is that Quick is an above average goaltender who can play at the highest level on occasion. He is a battler and a competitor, and once he gets in the zone it can be hard to break him. The "zone" times were fewer and far between this year. Part of that may have been due to injury, part of it may have been due to just an off year. With a contract that takes him up to 2022-23 we will have plenty of time to gauge what goalie Quick is, if we haven't already. Mind you, he has only been a full-time NHL starter for five years now, and one was shortened by a lockout and the other by injury. While he had moments of brilliance this year, more often than not he was average. It is easy to overlook how average or below average Quick is because when he is at his best, he IS arguably the best goaltender in the world. This year it was more average than anything else. Still though, he does contain that level, and we saw it quite a bit this year.
Moving Forward
Quick has the safety of a long term contract. However there are some lingering concerns about his health. For the second straight year he is having surgery during the offseason which is putting in question his status for the start. Not to mention he had a fairly legitimate groin injury that kept him out for two months. With the athletic way Quick plays it is definitely in the memory bank that he has suffered several significant injuries so far. If Quick cannot rely on his movement in the net and his aggression then he could be in a bit of trouble. These are questions that are going to come up further down the line hopefully as Quick ages. He is still just 28 and has a huge contract to play under. He also has a very capable backup playing behind him in Martin Jones, and a young and up and coming goaltender further down the pipeline in Patrik Bartosak. If Quick needs more games off here and there, the Kings back up goalies have proven more than capable in the rather cushy and goaltender friendly defensive system the Kings play.
As for the immediate future, Quick just needs to be more consistent. He has definitely gained a lot of critics in the past two years, and the "Overrated" tag is going to be forever evident until he has another year like 2011-12. Call Lundqvist what you want, but the man has been consistent year after year. Quick has yet to prove that, and it has been more of a peaks and valleys style journey when you follow the man from Milford. I don't think the Kings would have it any other way right now.
As for me, I'm willing to give Quick a bit of a nod here because who knows how many key goals would have gone by him if not for his wildly unorthodox and flashy style. Yes, it is prone to the...more than occasional gaff and questionable goal, but it evens out in the end in my eyes when you take into consideration how many chances he 100% robs. I expect the votes to be all over the place here on this one. For me, it was an inconsistent year hampered by injury. He was amazing at times, he was bad at times. I can't go any higher than a C+. Maybe a B-. Depends on what day you ask me.
Final Grade:
C+/B-
Tell me what you think.
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