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If you’ve been reading my articles over the last few months, you may be sick of me talking about the need for the Carolina Hurricanes to improve their goaltending situation. I’ll apologize right off the bat because this is another one of those articles.
With Petr Mrazek and James Reimer each just one year away from their respective contracts expiring and neither looking capable of taking on starting duties long-term, now seems like a perfect opportunity for Carolina to go after a starting goaltender. Like every team in the league hoping to improve their goaltending situation, the Hurricanes should have one clear target this summer: Robin Lehner.
Everyone knows I was a pretty big supporter of the Hurricanes trying to swing a deal for Lehner at the trade deadline. He'll be the top goalie in free agency, should he reach the market. This season, he managed a .920 save percentage playing almost the entire year with a non-playoff team, which was good enough to rank seventh in the NHL in goals saved above average. Last season in New York, he was a Vezina Trophy finalist and was third in the league in goals saved above average. He’s one of the most underrated goalies, or even players in general in the NHL and aside from a poor 2017-18 campaign in Buffalo, where he still managed a .908 save percentage with– and this is important to note– the worst team in the NHL, he’s been one of the league’s best goalies over the last half-decade.
He's posted at least a .920 save percentage in four of the last five seasons and even with his 2017-18 season included, in that time he has a .920 save percentage in 215 games. That ranks fourth amongst all NHL goalies who have played at least 50 games since the 2015-16 season, ahead of the likes of Andrei Vasilevskiy and John Gibson. As a bonus, Lehner is also a fun goalie to watch, as shown below.
With Carolina’s rock solid defense corps already in place, adding Lehner would have a huge impact on the Hurricanes’ chances of contending. It’s rare that a top goalie enters the market in his prime and this is a golden opportunity for the Hurricanes to improve between the pipes.
Here’s today’s poll question (results and discussion will be posted this weekend):
OTHER HURRICANES ARTICLES FROM APRIL
Reviewing the season (so far): Martin Necas Reviewing the season (so far): Nino Niederreiter Reviewing the season (so far): Brett Pesce Reviewing this week’s polls (April 4): Hurricanes Edition Reviewing the season (so far): James Reimer Reviewing the season (so far): Jaccob Slavin Reviewing the season (so far): Jordan Staal Reviewing the season (so far): Andrei Svechnikov Reviewing the season (so far): Teuvo Teravainen Reviewing the season (so far): Justin Williams Reviewing this week's polls (April 12): Hurricanes Edition Reviewing the season (so far): Trevor van Riemsdyk Reviewing the season (so far): All players acquired/traded this season Hurricanes must improve in two areas to contend for a Cup Five non-UFAs who may not be back with the Hurricanes next season Reviewing this week's polls (April 19): Hurricanes Edition Asset management has been a key part of Waddell's success Managing expectations for prospect Pyotr Kochetkov Hurricanes are likely to lose a quality player in the 2021 Expansion Draft Reviewing last week's polls (April 27): Hurricanes Edition