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Welcome to another edition of the Hockeybuzz hotstove.
Given the fact Pittsburgh didn't open negotiations with potential unrestricted free agent Marc-Andre Fleury over the summer, the common consensus from most was that he'd play out the season and wouldn't be retained by the Penguins.
That doesn't appear to be the plan, though, as newly appointed Penguins GM Jim Rutherford said he hopes for Fleury to be the team's starting goaltender long-term.
In this edition of the hotstove, we'll discuss whether or not it's a good idea to extend Fleury.
Todd Cordell
I don't think the Penguins should even consider re-signing Fleury, especially at the kind of dollars he'll likely command.
Sure, he has a Stanley Cup to his name but he posted a highly mediocre .908SV% during that postseason, which is among the lowest save percentage totals a goaltender has ever posted while winning a Cup.
In four of the last five years he's posted a sub .900SV% in the playoffs, and really hasn't been stellar in the regular season, either.
Since 2010 Fleury is 31st in 5 vs 5 SV% among goaltenders with at least 3,000 minutes played. That's behind the likes of Jose Theodore and Ilya Bryzgalov, and just barely ahead of Ondrej Pavelec, Devan Dubnyk, and Ray Emery, to name a few. That's not exactly great company to be keeping.
Every year guys like Jaroslav Halak and Jonas Hiller are available in free agency, and not only are they better but also more cost friendly.
I just don't see how the Pens benefit from locking up Fleury long-term.
Ryan Wilson
The problem with NHL goaltending is that people are attracted to the "name" guys. They are familiar so you think you can trust them more than guys you have never heard of. The fact of the matter is that it isn't that hard to find league average goaltending. It is all over the place and most times it does not come expensive.
Nobody knew who the heck Cam Ward, Antti Niemmi, or Corey Crawford were when they won the Stanley Cup. Their name recognition came after the fact.
You don't need excellent goaltending to win a Stanley Cup. Look at the Kings last year, Quick was below average. Fleury was below average when the Penguins won it all. It is better to invest the money into the team in front of the goalie rather than the goalie themselves.
There are only a few goalies in hockey worth paying a premium for and then the rest is pretty interchangeable. All goalies in this middle area run hot and cold.
One common argument I hear: "Well who can you get that is better than Fleury next year, the UFA market isn't good". It isn't about getting better at the position it is about getting cheaper. Hell, the current backup the Penguins have (Greiss) is a prime candidate to land a starting job at some point. Why not find out what you have in him this year? We all know what Fleury brings to the table.
Another excuse that is used to defend goalies: "Well there isn't a goalie out there that could have stopped that puck". Thanks for making my point, most goals are getting past any goalie in the league, so why pay extra money? Invest in the team in front of the goalie to limit the chances that lead to the unstoppable goals.
There isn't enough space in this Hotstove column to express all of my views about the goaltending position so I'll just end here.
Actions speak louder than words. If Rutherford truly felt that Fleury was his guy, he'd already be signed.
Let somebody like the Jets overpay for him.
James Tanner
I think that they should re-sign him. Marc-Andre Fleury is a good goalie and the Penguins have had success with him. The fact is, outside of a a very few elite goalies who are basically great every year, the position of goalie is incredibly volatile and nearly impossible to project or predict.
Unlike every other major award, each starting goalie has a chance to win the Vezina in a given year, because there just isn't that much discernible talent level difference between guys who can get a #1 NHL starting goalie job in the first place.
I don't know what stats there are that would prove this, but I'd be willing to bet that the amount of NHL games where it was the goalie's explicit fault his team lost or won would be somewhere around one in ten. Over a whole season, I think the goalie really plays to the quality of his team. This is not to say a goalie isn't important and that some goalies aren't better than others - obviously this isn't an extreme either/or proposition.
But for instance Rask won the Vezina last year and Boston probably is still a top team if you replace him with more than half the starters in the league. Similarly, Rask on the Sabres wasn't getting them into the playoffs last year either.
This is just a long way of saying Fleury is - at worst - an NHL average starting goalie and for me that means that if the team in front of him is good then he can win and that's all you really need. What goaltender that you could for sure say is an upgrade on Fleury would even potentially be available to replace him anyways? Virtually every single goalie you could say is a significant improvement on Fleury is locked up until 2018 at the very least.
The blame he gets for the recent playoff failures is overblown and borders on ridiculous because I don't think the Penguins have played a single playoff series in the last 3 or 4 years where they had Crosby, Malkin and Letang all healthy at once.
Matt Henderson
Oh my God, no. No. NO. NOOOOOOOOOO. No, full stop. I know I was asked to give a few reasons why, but instead I'll provide my initial thoughts at even the idea of re-signing Fleury long term.
What on Earth are you thinking, Pittsburgh? You are SOOO close at losing this albatross of a goaltender and now you want to re-sign him? This guy costs you playoff wins EVERY YEAR. He has a .905sv% as his CAREER in the Playoffs. Stop it. Stop trying to outsmart EVERY other hockey analyst on the planet who keeps telling you Fleury is a steaming pile of garbage that is ruining your team.
If you have a contract already done up then immediately stop what you are doing and walk it towards the shredder. Get the secretary to do it if you don't have the heart. Let Fleury walk away and wreck someone else's legacy. He's done enough to label Pittsburgh a team that chokes in the post-season.
Just take your opportunity to walk away from this guy while you can, before its too late.
Tim Chiasson
I don't think they should keep the Flower, but it's not because I think he's an awful goaltender. Truthfully, I think Fleury gets more blame than he should on a lot of occasions even though he has been directly responsible for a few playoff disasters.
I don't think they should keep him from a cap perspective. He's making $5M per season right now and I doubt he'll want to sign for less than that. I think Pittsburgh needs to give Thomas Greiss a chance in goal and look for cheaper, adequate options as opposed to a $5M starter. Pittsburgh doesn't need their starter to drag them along, they just need a starter who will make the saves he should on a regular basis.
Having more flexibility with the cap is worth its weight in gold for top NHL teams, and it's also hard to come by in most cases. With several big contracts a little more breathing room wouldn't hurt come trade deadline and free agency should those avenues need traveling. Fleury's time in Pittsburgh has run its course and it may be time for both parties to go their separate ways.
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What do you think? Should the Penguins sign Fleury long-term? As always, we'd love to hear your thoughts.
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