More on Goaltending

There are two important dates in the off-season that gets the speculators going and they are the NHL Draft (which is Friday) and July 1st, the date that the teams begin shopping the Unrestricted Free Agent market to find that particular player to help their teams become better hockey clubs. When Phoenix Coyotes hired General Manager Don Maloney, he stated that he wanted a goaltender to most likely replace Curtis Joseph (who is an Unrestricted Free Agent, but has indicated he would like to stay in Phoenix) or to initiate competition with Mikael Tellqvist, the goaltender acquired by the Coyotes in the Tyson Nash trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs back in November. Backup goaltender Martin Gerber has been mentioned as potential trade to upgrade the goalie position, but there are other possibilities as well. If the Coyotes wish to acquire a quality goaltender through the free agent market, the question now becomes the price and the expected return. In the free agent market, there may be some goaltenders available. One goalie of interest could be David Aebischer, the one time backup to Patrick Roy. Tagged as the heir apparent to arguably one of the best goaltenders of all time, the pressure was too much for Aebischer to handle when he took over in Colorado after Roy retired and was traded to the Montreal Canadiens. Aebischer did start off strong in the opening of last season for the Canadiens only to run cold allowing Cristobal Huet to take over. When Huet went down with his hamstring injury, instead of having Aebischer to return to his position, Jarosalv Halak was called up to help the Canadiens team compete for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. With Huet coming back from injury and Halak stepping up for the Canadiens hockey team, Aebischer is left alone and resigning with the team is unlikely. Should the Coyotes take a chance on David Aebischer or look elsewhere? Aebischer has the numbers for a solid goaltender. Since his arrival in the NHL, he has a 2.51 GAA with a .912 save percentage and has been ranked among the top ten goaltenders in the NHL. The only concern is that Aebischer is a streaky player prone to running cold at the wrong times. If this is a mental challenge for him, the Coyotes have a goaltending coach in Grant Fuhr that could help him with that aspect of the position. In addition, the Coyotes also have Mikael Tellqvist that can step in and do the job if Aebischer falters. His one year deal last season was worth $1.9 million. It may be worth it to give Aebischer a chance away from the spot light of the Colorado Avalanche and the Montreal Canadiens in the quiet desert of the Phoenix Valley.