This piece will be another in my series of player profiles, where I’ll give some thoughts on the performance of a member of the Carolina Hurricanes this season. This article will focus on Petr Mrazek.
This year, Mrazek had a golden opportunity to take hold of the net in Carolina and prove himself as a legitimate NHL starter. To be blunt, he failed.
Having said that, it's not like the season was a disaster for him. Mrazek was key in several victories this year and on a few occasions, put together a string of great games. Unfortunately though, he never found consistency. For every great game, there was a not-so-great game. For every huge save, there was a weak goal. Too many times this year, Mrazek didn’t outplay the other team’s goalie.
I apologize if I’m repeating myself, as I’ve done a few posts this year on Mrazek. But the frustrating thing with him is that we know how great he can be, we just don’t see it on a regular basis. When he’s at his best, he can go head-to-head with just about any other goalie in the league. His athleticism is still shocking to see at times and his mobility is great. However, all of that doesn’t mean much if he lets in a clean shot that he just didn’t read well enough.
At 28 years old, Mrazek has the ability to be around this league for a while. But unless he can find a way to bring more consistency to his game, it’s unlikely he’ll ever reach his potential as a quality starter. It may be time for the Hurricanes to start looking around for a proven starter who can be with the team long-term and either move Mrazek or keep him around in a more limited role.
Here's today's poll question (results and discussion for all polls each week will be posted in an article every Saturday).
Do you have confidence in Petr Mrazek as Carolina's starter going forward?
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