Goaltenders Ready To Battle It Out For Starter Spot

For teams like the New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks, there is little doubt as to who will be starting in net when the puck drops to start the regular season. No matter how well Johan Hedberg, Martin Biron and Cory Schneider impress in training camp, none of them will supplant Martin Brodeur, Henrik Lundqvist or Roberto Luongo.

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

Between The Pipes: Ellis Heading To Tampa, Mason Joining Atlanta, Raycroft Aligning With Stars

In light of teams being able to find postseason success without a high-priced goaltender, many are now seeking cheaper options to guard their net. While Evgeni Nabokov and Marty Turco are still without employment, several less-prolific, yet experienced goalies were snatched up right away - and cheap.

~ The Montreal Canadiens tried to bring Dan Ellis into their mix when they traded for his rights from the Nashville Predators. But they couldn't come to an agreement with the 30-year old, and instead opted to bring in Alex Auld on a one year deal. That left Ellis to look for work elsewhere, and he found it in Tampa Bay. Lightning General Manager Steve Yzerman was able to lock him up for two years at $3 million, marking a $500,000/year discount over what former Lightning Antero Niittymaki signed for as the newest No. 1/1A in San Jose. Ellis should start out playing the backup role, with a generous portion of games going his way, to Mike Smith. And if Smith slips, there should be no hesitation on Tampa's end to make a switch. This is a good, cost-saving move by Yzerman that provides the Lightning a formidable one-two punch in net.

~ When the St. Louis Blues decided to get younger in net and traded for Jaroslav Halak, who is thus far unsigned as a restricted free agent, it pretty much spelled the end of Chris Mason's tenure with the team. That doesn't mean the 34-year old was a disappointment during his two years in St. Louis. Quite the contrary. He served extremely well in 118 games played with a 57-43-15 record as a Blue. In 61 games last year, he won a career-high 30 games and posted a 2.53 goals against average and .913 save percentage. Two years ago, he racked up a career-high six shutouts. That's solid production that the Atlanta Thrashers hope will continue from their new backup netminder. Mason signed with the ever-improving Thrashers for the next two years at $3.7 million. He will see salaries of $1.6 million next season and $2.1 million in 2011-12 for an annual cap hit of $1.85 million. Yeah, it's a bit expensive. But with Kari Lehtonen and Johan Hedberg both gone and Ondrej Pavelec still pretty unproven, Mason's pay is justified. When it's all said and done, he'll probably end up becoming Atlanta's starter.

~ Andrew Raycroft will forever be known as the Boston Bruin rookie who won the Calder Memorial Trophy in 2004 and then went on to be ridiculously awful. But as a backup to Roberto Luongo in Vancouver last season, Raycroft actually played pretty well. He was in 21 games, went 9-5-1, had a 2.42 goals against and .911 save percentage. He parlayed that into a two-year, $1.3 million contract to play backup to Kari Lehtonen in Dallas. He will see salaries of $700,000 next season and $600,000 in 2011-12. A Lehtonen/Raycroft combination is pretty uninspiring really. But it's not exactly easy to get excited over a replacement for Marty Turco.

Canadiens, Predators Exchange The Rights To Kostitsyn, Ellis

 

With unrestricted free agency less than 48 hours way, teams are trying to get one final leg up on the competition for soon-to-be free agents. On Tuesday afternoon, the Montreal Canadiens and Nashville Predators participated in an exchange of rights for players and future considerations. The Predators dealt goaltender Dan Ellis, forward Dustin Boyd and future considerations to the Canadiens in exchange for Sergei Kostitsyn and future considerations. Kostitsyn and Boyd are set to become restricted free agents, while Ellis will be of the unrestricted variety.

The Canadiens hope to sign Ellis prior to the opening of free agency at noon on July 1, when any organization can make a play for his services. There isn't much time to get that done, but a Twitter post by Ellis indicated he is excited about the idea of joining the Habs:

Very excited about the trade! Its an honor to be part of a team with such great tradition and passion! Hope we can figure something out!

The team plans to either utilize the 29-year old as a backup or an equal employee in net with Carey Price, who was extended a qualifying offer by the Habs and will soon become a restricted free agent.

Ellis is the latest victim of a constant rotating door of goaltenders in Nashville. He had a tremendous rookie campaign in 2007-08, going 23-10-3 with a 2.34 goals against average, .924 save percentage and six shutouts. But his play slipped over the past two years and Pekka Rinne emerged as the new No. 1 in Nashville, making him expendable.

Boyd, 23, will provide depth at the forward position as a dependable two-way center or forward. He is not a dynamic offensive contributor, but scored 11 goals in each of the last two seasons and 20- to 25-point capability.

Going the other way is Kostitsyn, who is the younger brother of Andrei Kostitsyn. The 23-year old Belarusian has endless offensive potential but an attitude that prevents him from fully reaching it. In three NHL seasons, he has yet to reach the 10-goal plateau and has been unable to avoid a stint in the AHL as a way of maturing his game and him as an individual. According to TSN, the troublesome winger has been suspended by the organization in the past and criticized by teammates for lack of effort and other behavior matters.

Kostitsyn will need to grow up and get his game on course if he is to help a Predators organization in need of an offensive boost. He has the skills and ability to be a top-notch scorer and playmaker. But if his attitude continues to get in the way, he will be just as much of a frustration for Nashville as he was to the Canadiens.