When a player steps away from hockey to get help through the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program, his NHL squad has little to no contact with him.
In the instance of Utah Mammoth goaltender Connor Ingram, who entered the program in March for the second time in his career, management received its updates through the grapevine. But you don’t build your team based on rumors, so on July 1, they signed Vítek Vaněček as a depth option in net.
“As a GM, you just have to make sure that there’s depth,” GM Bill Armstrong said in an interview ahead of free agency day. “Whether it’s goaltending or it’s on defense or it’s forwards, we have to make sure there’s depth. It’s just speculation. (Ingram is) in the program. I hear through roundabout that he’s doing really well. We’re really excited for him, but yeah. Just building depth.”
But that depth has the potential to be problematic for the team.
On Aug. 20, the NHL and NHLPA announced that Ingram has been cleared to play. For the sake of Ingram and his well-being, that’s great news, but having three goalies is a difficult thing for any NHL team to navigate.
Professional athletes want to play as much as possible, and teams can only dress two goalies at a time. That means one of them is watching from the press box every game — a surefire way to irritate even the most patient players.
What’s more, there are only three healthy-scratch spots on a roster, and having a goalie occupy one of them means the team has to carry fewer extra skaters than it normally would. They could send a net minder to the AHL, but with how in-demand goalies are, the risk of losing that player on waivers may be too great.
How does a 3-goalie system work in NHL?
In short, a three-goalie system doesn’t work. Every year, a number of teams try it and fail for two reasons:
- No goalie wants to be part of a three-man rotation if he can help it.
- If you have to rely on three goalies to get the job done, you probably don’t have anyone who’s consistent enough.
Last season, the Detroit Red Wings tried it out. They started the year with Cam Talbot, Alex Lyon and Ville Husso, but ended up dropping the latter to the AHL before ultimately trading him to the Anaheim Ducks.
They picked up Petr Mrázek later on in the season, though an injury (which he sustained in Utah) prevented his presence from being an issue until the last few games of the season.
Unsurprisingly, the Wings were forced to overhaul their crease over the offseason, swapping Mrázek for John Gibson and losing Lyon to the Buffalo Sabres in free agency.
The Sabres have also tried it the last few years, cycling through Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Devon Levi and one more goalie each year, whether that’s James Reimer, Eric Comrie or Craig Anderson. Their record speaks for itself when judging whether the system works.
Levi being waiver-exempt made the situation easier until now, but starting this year, that’s no longer the case. It wouldn’t be shocking to see someone get shipped out before long.
All that being said, it’s better to have too many goalies than not enough — a lesson Utah learned the hard way last year, necessitating a 23-start streak from Vejmelka.
Armstrong has mentioned on a few occasions that he anticipates this year’s training camp to be the most competitive this group has ever had, and now goaltending will be included in that.
If it does become necessary to move someone, there’s always a market for a good goalie, so you know the departing party would end up in a good spot. The Calgary Flames, for example, have just 101 games among the five goalies currently listed on their training camp roster, and only one who even played in the NHL last year.
