| Marc-Andre Fleury could be facing some pressure from Tomas Vokoun this season. (U.S. Presswire) |
At some point this offseason it seems as if people forgot that Tomas Vokoun now plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
And that could end up being kind of a big deal.
This past summer, before the latest NHL lockout kicked off to annoy us all, the Penguins made two huge moves to their roster. The biggest of which was sending Jordan Staal, one of their big three centers, to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Brandon Sutter, a player that might be Staal's equal defensively (but without the offensive upside), and what turned out to be two top defense prospects in Derrick Pouliot and Brian Dumolion.
The other move was to acquire Vokoun's free-agent rights from the Washington Capitals for a seventh-round draft pick, and then sign the veteran to a two-year, $4-million contract. That's not an insignificant price tag for a backup goalie. Especially one that's proven over the past seven years that he's not only good enough to start in the NHL, but also be one of the top goalies in the NHL as he was during his time with the Florida Panthers.
And that brings us to the Penguins' goaltending situation, which could be worth keeping an eye on whenever the season finally gets underway (we're assuming of course that it eventually will).
On Tuesday night, Tribune-Review beat writer Josh Yohe Tweeted (well, actually he Sulia'd) that some in the Penguins organization held Marc-Andre Fleury largely accountable for the team's disappointing performance in the playoffs against the Philadelphia Flyers. It was a series that featured a lot of offense, a lot of sloppy defense, and yes, a lot of bad goaltending.
And that includes Fleury.
But, the Penguins are aware of the fact that coach Dan Bylsma has been forced to yank Fleury from at least one game in four of the team's past five series. That is a disturbing trend, a sign that, for all of Fleury's success, he remains somewhat unreliable. His teammates, from what I've been able to determine, are still 100 percent in Fleury's corner. But not everyone in the front office is. There is immense pressure on the Flower this season. Another early exit in the playoffs will not go over well.
Fleury certainly has his share of staunch supporters in Pittsburgh and seems to be a fan favorite among the majority of Penguins faithful.
It's long been assumed that the organization shared that belief, especially since winning the Stanley Cup back in 2009, a championship run that ended with Fleury's buzzer-beating save on future Hall of Famer Nicklas Lidstrom.
So it's at least a little surprising to hear that perhaps, just maybe, that isn't necessarily the case within the walls of the Consol Energy Center.
Since winning that Cup, the Penguins have won just one playoff series (an opening-round victory against Ottawa back in 2010) and have been eliminated in the first round in each of the past two seasons. Fleury's performance in the postseason has not been strong in any of those years.
Of the 27 goalies that have appeared in at least seven playoff games since the start of the 2010 playoffs, Fleury is 26th in save percentage (ahead of only Sergei Bobrovsky) at .880. And while a lot of that is due to the run-and-gun style of hockey we saw against the Flyers this past postseason, it's worth keeping in mind that he was below .900 in each of his previous two postseason runs as well. That's not to say the Penguins' playoff shortcomings in recent years all fall on Fleury. They lost in the first round against Tampa Bay back in 2011, for example, because without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin they couldn't beat Dwayne Roloson (of all people) enough to outscore the Lightning.
But he still hasn't been good enough.
If nothing else, the Penguins had to upgrade their backup goalie situation because last year's No. 2 netminder, Brent Johnson, had become so unreliable that Fleury had to play virtually every game. Even on the nights he was given a rest he almost always seemed to be called into action at some point because Johnson had to be pulled as a result of poor play. An upgrade to the position was a must.
Not only did the Penguins upgrade with Vokoun, they acquired what has been, statistically speaking anyway, one of the best goalies in the league over the past seven years. Keep in mind that since the start of the 2005-06 season the only goalies with a minimum of 82 games played that have a higher save percentage than Vokoun have been Boston's Tim Thomas and Tuukka Rask. And he did that playing on a lot of Florida Panthers teams that weren't exactly known for strong defensive play in front of him.
Fleury is going to enter the season as Pittsburgh's starting goalie.
But for the first time in his career he has a goalie behind him that can not only push him, but is also capable of taking meaningful playing time away from him should it come to that.
For more hockey news, rumors and analysis, follow @EyeOnHockey and @agretz on Twitter and like us on Facebook.