Bolts go north for goaltending help

TAMPA, FLA – When last we saw Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman, he was adding some help to his team by picking a two-way defenseman. The choice of Cody Ceci addressed part of the Bolts’ problem that surfaced this past season but he still has plenty of work to do.
Tampa’s failure to make the playoffs following the 2011-2012 season was due to not keeping the puck out of its own net. Admittedly, a lot of that problem fell upon the defensemen, who for the most part had negative plus/minus ratings. Blaming the defense is fine but it is only half of the equation.
The other, and debatably more important, part of defensive success is goaltending. The man between the pipes is the final line of defense and can steal a victory away from the jaws of defeat that could be the difference between a winning and losing season.
In the case of the Lightning, 2011-2012 was not the year of the goalie. As talked about during the discussion of the tenth pick, the drop off of the play by netminder Dwayne Roloson was drastic. Picked up from the Islanders mid way through the 2010-2011 season, all he did was go 18-12-0-4 with a 2.56 goals against average and a .912 save percentage before leading Tampa to the Eastern Conference final. For the post-season, his numbers were 10-6 with a 2.51 goals against average and a .924 save percentage.
Roloson’s numbers were accentuated by the fact that he was doing it at the ripe old age of 41. Some wondered if he could duplicate it at age 42 and based on the stats, he wasn’t even close to it. His sub-.500 record (13-16-3), over three goals per game allowed average and under-.900 save percentage spoke loudly.
Roloson’s backup, Mathieu Garon, picked up a lot of the slack, posting a 23-16-0-4 record with a 2.85 goals against average and .901 save percentage. Sebastien Caron picked up three starts for the Lightning, going 1-1 with a 3.11 goals against and .877 save percentage. Dustin Tokarski saw action in five games going 1-3 with a 3.44 goals against and .879 save percentage
Caron will turn 32 a couple of days after this year’s draft while Garon is 34. It is entirely possible that neither one or both will return (Roloson’s fate is even more fluid). The fact that both Roloson and Caron are both unrestricted free agents leaves the Lightning with only Garon presently on the big club’s roster being secured while questions about his ability to be a number one goalie swirl. It is also entirely possible that Yzerman could get a starting goalie through free agency.
Down on the farm, Tokarski (32-11, 2.23 GAA, .913 save pct.) and Jaroslav Janus (23-8-2, 2.36 GAA, .913 save pct.) backstopped the AHL Norfolk Admirals to a Calder Cup championship. At the double-A level, Pat Nagle (20-14-3, 2.87 GAA, .905 save pct.) played a big role in the Florida Everblades winning its first ECHL Kelly Cup title. Adam Wilcox, a 6th round pick out of the USHL a year ago, has committed to the University of Minnesota so his appearance in the pros could be delayed for a while.
With a short list of goalies in the system and no sure things as far as the Tampa roster goes, Yzerman could help himself long term by adding some goaltending. There is a short list of top notch netminders available in the draft, including Andrei Vasilevski from Russia and Oscar Dansk from Sweden. Thing is, with the exception of Janus who was a 6th round pick in 2009 out of Slovakia, the Lightning have had a less than stellar history of finding goalies from across the pond (Finnish netminders Riku Helenius and Karri Ramo along with Russian-born Vasily Koshechkin come to mind).
With all that said, expect Yzerman to step to the microphone for the second time in the first round and say:
“With the 19th pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, the Tampa Bay Lightning select, from the Belleville Bulls of the Ontario Hockey League, Malcolm Subban.”
To learn more about Malcolm Subban, click here .
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com Contact the photographer at Lewis.Bleiman@prohockeynews.com Follow us on twitter @prohockeynews