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Many teams, however, enter camp with at least two options that have realistic chances of taking the No. 1 role when the regular season beings on October 7. While one may have a greater shot than the other, nothing is set in stone for either player and training camp will provide the perfect opportunity for both goaltenders to prove their value to the organization.
Here are a few teams that will need to observe their options closely and select the man most capable of defending their net during the season ahead.
Atlanta Thrashers: Ondrej Pavelec vs. Chris Mason
When the Atlanta Thrashers traded Kari Lehtonen last season to the Dallas Stars, they made the statement that they were ready to move ahead in a new direction between the pipes. Lehtonen had been their guy for a number of years. But his player never equaled expectations and he had a myriad of injuries during his time with Atlanta.
Ondrej Pavelec was the guy waiting in the wings once the Thrashers gave up on Lehtonen. Previous to last year, he played a total of 19 games over two seasons and failed to impress. Last season, he played 42 games (starting 40) and did not do much better as the No. 1 man. He finished the season with a 14-18-7 record to go with a 3.29 goals against average and .906 save percentage. Needless to say, the different direction Atlanta was planning to go in did not pan out much better than the original with Lehtonen.
The new look Thrashers will likely give Pavelec a shot at claiming that No. 1 role for next season. And he will probably be given the benefit of the doubt for his youth and considering they drafted him in the second round of the 2005 NHL Draft for the purpose of sporting their crease in a major way.
But when the St. Louis Blues signed Jaroslav Halak, they allowed Chris Mason to leave via free agency. The Thrashers swooped right in on the opening day of free agency and granted him a two-year deal for $3.7 million. Mason played incredibly well for the Blues during his two years of service with the team and completed last season with an impressive 30 wins.
At 34 years old, Mason may come into training camp as the backup to the 23-year old Pavelec. But Mason has performed better than Pavelec recently and any slip by the youngster can be instant cause for the Thrashers to go with the veteran.
Who Should Be The No. 1 Goalie? - Chris Mason
Who Will Be The No. 1 Goalie? - Ondrej Pavelec
Boston Bruins: Tuukka Rask vs. Tim Thomas
The case for the starting goalie job in Boston should be open and shut. Tuukka Rask has basically been anointed as the Bruins' goaltender of the future and has already proven himself to be capable at the NHL level with 39 solid regular season and 13 playoffs starts last year. During the regular season, Rask ranked first among all goalies in goals against average (1.97) and save percentage (.931).
But after failing to deal Tim Thomas and his $5 million cap hit over the next three seasons during the summer, the Bruins can't just place the 36-year old on the back burner. Ever since emerging in the NHL as a bonafide starter during the 2006-07 season, Thomas has done nothing but good things for the Bruins. Perhaps last year was not his greatest. But he still put up respectable numbers that may have been hindered by a hip injury, which should have been rectified with offseason surgery.
Thomas simply cannot just be relegated to a once-in-a-while starter if he plays like he has for Boston over the past five years. If anything, he is nothing short of No. 1-A, though Boston would love to avoid stifling either goaltender by needing to split time between the two.
Its seems certain that head coach Claude Julien will indeed play Rask once the season begins while General Manager Peter Chiarelli continues to work the phones in an effort to unload Thomas and his salary. But this has the makings of playing-the-hot-hand all over it. So if Rask slips up anywhere along the way, Thomas will instantly get a look. And once he gets it, he may not let go of the starter role.
Whoe Should Be The No. 1 Goalie? - Tuukka Rask
Who Will Be The No. 1 Goalie? - Tuukka Rask
Columbus Blue Jackets: Steve Mason vs. Mathieu Garon
There were incredble hopes out in Columbus over the prospect of the Blue Jackets being a perennial playoff contender thanks to finally finding a goaltender capable of carrying the team on his back. Steve Mason played a phenomenal rookie campaign in 2008-09 that earned him Rookie of the Year honors and helped lead the Blue Jackets to the first postseason appearance in franchise history.
But then 2009-10 rolled around and a sophomore slump of epic proportions kicked in. He started just 58 games (55 starts) over the course of the season and posted a 20-26-9 record while surrending an average of over three goals per game and saving just 90 percent of the shots he faced. That's a far cry from the 30 wins he posted a year earlier with a 2.29 goals against average, .916 save percentage and league-leading 10 shutouts.
The one good thing for Mason was that most of his struggles came earlier in the season and his play picked up a bit during the latter half of the year. But he wasn't great overall and his poor performances allowed Mathieu Garon to see more game action than he likely anticipated.
The Blue Jackets should give Mason another go in the starter position, and General Manager Scott Howson has faith that he is headed in the right direction. However, it wouldn't be a shock for Garon to get the nod if Mason does not provide a convincing enough showing in training camp. He needs to avoid becoming the next Andrew Raycroft. That No. 1 role may not be just handed to him if he doesn't prove himself or Garon manages to outshine him in the weeks ahead.
Who Should Be The No. 1 Goalie? - Steve Mason
Who Will Be The No. 1 Goalie? - Steve Mason
New York Islanders: Rick DiPietro vs. Dwayne Roloson
As each season passes in Long Island, one would hope that the New York Islanders realize the drastic error in judgment that was made when they signed the injury-riddled Rick DiPietro to a 15-year, $67.5 million contract. He has played just 13 games over the past two years and has won a grand total of three of them. Even when he was glued together enough to get some starts, he never really showed any flashes of brilliance to make folks believe he'd be able to carry the Islanders on his shoulders if he could just shake his numerous debilitating knee and hip injuries.
Word from Islanders camp is that he is heathy, working out with the team and should be good to go when the regular season opens. But is it really a smart move to grant DiPietro starter status when he hasn't played well recently and is a mere sneeze away from going back on the shelf?
Unfortunately, the man battling DiPietro in camp for the No. 1 role is not a tremendous second option. It's not because Dwayne Roloson isn't good. And it's not because he isn't capable of being a starter for the long haul. But he will be 41 years old on Oct. 12, and it seems anti-rebuilding for a team with so many young forwards and defensemen to put their netminding in the hands of a guy primed to retire at the end of the year.
(Where was General Manager Garth Snow when folks like Antti Niemi, Dan Ellis and Jaroslav Halak were either available as free agents or being shopped on the trade market?)
This may be one of the more wide-open battles in camp. While the Islanders would love nothing more than their 15-year investment to pan out as the player they fully intended him to be, it's doubtful that they will give him the starter label just because of the money saddled in him. He will still have to earn the spot, though he will probably be granted a slight edge and it will take a poor camp or another injury on his end for the No. 1 spot to be surrendered to Roloson.
Who Should Be The No. 1 Goalie? - Rick DiPietro
Who Will Be The No. 1 Goalie? - Rick DiPietro
Ottawa Senators: Brian Elliott vs. Pascal Leclaire
When the Ottawa Senators acquired Pascal Leclaire from the Columbus Blue Jackets at the trade deadline in 2009, there was a lot of hope in the Canadian capital that the team had finally found a consistent No. 1 guy to backstop the team for many years like nobody has since Patrick Lalime. But alas, injuries that have plagued him his entire career and battles with inconsistency when healthy enough to play have limited Leclaire's ability to meet those expectations and the $3.8 million cap he puts on the Sentors' payroll.
Because of injuries and poor play, he ceded the top spot to Brian Elliott last year. All Elliott did was go out and win 29 games with a 2.57 goals against average, .909 save percentage and five shutouts. He didn't do extraordinarily well in the first round of the playoffs against Pittsburgh. And that allowed Leclaire to get some of the spotlight back, especially with a franchise record 56-save performance for the win in Game 5. But Elliott already proved that he might just be the guy the Senators have been looking for with a solid sophomore campaign.
One thing working in Leclaire's favor is a reunion with his former goaltending coach from Columbus, Rick Wamsley. General Manager Bryan Murray hopes that being able to work with Wamsley will help Leclaire build himself back up into a more consistent starter for the Senators, according to The Montreal Gazette.
Something working against Leclaire, however, is that the 27-year old is set to become an unrestricted free agent next summer and his time in Ottawa could be short-lived. Elliott, 25, on the hand, is set to become a restricted free agent and it may be worth Ottawa's while to invest more time and effort into him since there's a better shot he will be around longer. Plus, Elliott might just be the better goalie.
Who Should Be The No. 1 Goalie? - Brian Elliott
Who Will Be The No. 1 Goalie? - Pascal Leclaire
Tampa Bay Lightning: Dan Ellis vs. Mike Smith
The main problem for the Tampa Bay Lightning's goaltending situation is that they haven't had a standout No. 1 option since Nikolai Khabibulin backstopped the organization to a Stanley Cup in 2004. Since then, the Lightning have essentially sported No. 1-A goaltenders in their crease, and that's led to consecutive playoff-less seasons over the past three years.
New General Manager Steve Yzerman has done a fantastic job re-working the roster and making them more formidable than the sixth worst team they were last season. But the same situation surrounds the team in net - neither Mike Smith nor new addition Dan Ellis have presented themselves lately as anything other No. 1-A or 2 options.
Smith was supposed to be the starter of the future for the Lightning when the team acquired him from the Dallas Stars, where he at times outplayed Marty Turco to steal a few starts away. But Smith has not lived up to expectations since arriving in Tampa Bay. Last year, he only played 42 games (36 started) and played poorly enough that Antero Niittymaki started a greater number of games and played a smidge better than his counterpart.
Niittymaki departed as a free agent to San Jose, and Yzerman locked up Ellis on a two-year deal. Problem is, Ellis' last great season came three years ago and long-lost the starter role in the goaltending carousel that is Nashville to Pekka Rinne. The Predators deemed him so unnecessary to their future plans that they dealt his rights to the Montreal Canadiens, who were unable to sign him as Carey Price's backup and allowed him to retain is unrestricted free agency rights to sign on with Tampa Bay.
As a backup goalie, Ellis is a fine option. But such is the case for Smith. So, which one is honestly better?
Well, Smith has already failed in three seasons with Tampa Bay to make his mark on the franchise. Meanwhile, Ellis provides some new blood and a change of scenery could up his game. This is one battle that will definitely play itself out in camp. And it would be far from shocking if the two went 50-50 over the course of the season.
Who Should Be The No. 1 Goalie? - Dan Ellis
Who Will Be The No. 1 Goalie? - Dan Ellis
Toronto Maple Leafs: Jean-Sebastien Giguere vs. Jonas Gustavsson
This season, the Maple Leafs have a very good goaltending tandem between Jean-Sebastien Giguere and Jonas Gustavsson. Both of them are capable of being the top guy in Toronto.
Giguere is the veteran of the duo with a Stanley Cup to his name and good enough history with Burke that the GM decided to deal for him from Anaheim when the Ducks decided their future in between the pipes was best left in the hands of Jonas Hiller. While Vesa Toskala and Jason Blake went the other way in a deal, Giguere came over to Toronto to play 15 games for a 6-7-2 record, 2.49 goals against average, .916 save percentage and two shutouts.
Gustavsson is still the newbie of the group, but he played well enough in his rookie campaign to be given some serious looks as the team's goaltender of the future. In 42 games last season, the 25-year old Swede went 16-15-9 with a 2.87 goals against average and a .902 save percentage. Those certainly are not the flashiest stats, but he had a much better latter half that showed some growth throughout the year.
It would probably be against head coach Ron Wilson's wishes to play a 41-41 split between the two. But it's likely he'll be playing the hot hand during the season while trying to figure out which one is better suited for a playoff run Phaneuf and Burke are expecting.
Training camp will dictate who gets the nod, but Giguere seems primed to get the first crack at the starting gig.
Who Should Be The No. 1 Goalie? - Jean-Sebastien Giguere
Who Will Be The No. 1 Goalie? - Jean-Sebastien Giguere
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