Why Don’t More NHL Teams Grow Their Own Goalies?

by | Mar 9, 2021 | News, NHL | 4 comments

 







4 Comments

  1. That fact about the last 9 Cup winners having developed their own goalie is a real eye-opener … wow, all the way back to Tim Thomas before you see a hired championship goalie!

    Can’t be a coincidence.Would love to see that expanded to the turn of the century.

    • Even Thomas was hardly some “hired gun”. He was a 28 year old former 9th round pick (1994) who hadn’t played a single NHL game prior to Boston signing him in 2002.

      He spent 2 years in Providence before becoming an NHL regular.

      He went from the scrap heap to Stanley Cup champ and Vezina winner. Really a great story.

  2. Hi Lyle

    when I first read the article title “ Why Don’t More NHL Teams Grow Their Own Goalies?”

    My immediate quip (not had my Tim’s yet) was…. “because the fertilizer was too expensive” (sorry , had to)

    Re-reading my nutty response, metaphorically it is not that far from the truth

    Goaltenders are key to playoff success… but drafting them high (costly) doesn’t always lead to success and can be a costly mistake (cite Islanders and Di Pietro) ; and developing 2nd or later round picks only to find NHL failure when they arrive…. cite many) also costly…

    the less risky (can be viewed as less expensive) route is acquisition by trade to get a goalie either already a proven commodity or showing very strongly in his development path

    However…. drafting # 1 with the Flower…. paid some dividends

    Hellebuyck… 130th overall… wow what a difference maker… Cite 11 hours ago here

  3. Answered my own question with a little research – over the past 20 cup winners (since there was no 2005 cup I went back to 1999) a “homegrown” goalie was used by 13 cup winners while 7 did not.

    Better sampling size … but the recent trend certainly favours the homegrowns