The Daily Faceoff Show: NHL record for most goalies used in a season to be broken

Today on The Daily Faceoff Show, Frank Seravalli and Mike McKenna dug into another edition of the ‘Blue Paint with Mike McKenna.’

A hot topic of discussion was about we’ve already seen 97 goalies suit up for action this season; the NHL record for most goalies used in a season is 99. This almost certainly means the record is going to be shattered this season, as teams juggle taxi squads and complications related to the NHL’s COVID-19 protocols.

McKenna also answered the question that has a pretty unanimous answer from those around the league — who was the best goaltender in the NHL in the month of December?

The answer is Thatcher Demko.

“I know everybody loves Bruce Boudreau in that city right now,” McKenna said. “And they should. But boy, they should be sending gift baskets to Thatcher Demko with his numbers since in the past month, especially in December.

“I mean, 9-1 in his last 10 games and during that span, every single game, his save percentage has been above 90%. That’s nearly impossible to do as a goaltender. That level of consistency has been a huge reason why the Canucks have turned it around.”

McKenna continued…

“His advanced stats put him at the top of the heap, no matter which way you look at it,” McKenna said. “And I think when you watch Demko play, he’s so in control of his game. He’s rarely outside of his crease. He’s very controlled, he’s eating rebounds. His game lends itself to consistency.

“He’s done a great job in the last couple of years in modifying and modernizing his game with goalie coach Ian Clark. I think if Demko can keep this up, he’s going to at least get Vancouver back to respectability and possibly even looking at that outside-looking-in playoff spot. He’s been the best goalie in the league since Dec. 1.”

McKenna and Seravalli also talked about Detroit Red Wings goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic.

In particular, how Nedeljkovic has come into this season, beat out Thomas Greiss for the starter’s role and also set the Red Wings up to have a strong crease as they await to see how the development of 2021 first-round pick Sebastian Cossa unfolds over the next 2-3 years.

“I want to key in on Nedeljkovic’s numbers,” McKenna said. “They’re fairly pedestrian [2.85 GAA and .914 save percentage] but his advanced numbers are up there with Demko. He’s up there in that same ballpark as [Ilya] Sorokin in Long Island who has been very good this year. And there’s a huge delta between the Nedeljkovic and Greiss right now. Greiss is allowing three and a half goals per game and Nedeljkovic is under three.

“I think puck handling is what makes a big difference for the Detroit Red Wings. He gets the puck moving. He gets it to those young players on the team that gets it in motion and that’s invaluable. He had that hot run with the Hurricanes last season. I still think they should have held on to him — that’s water under the bridge. He’s found a good home in Detroit as another good trade by Steve Yzerman.”

The conversation begins at the 16:12 mark, and you can watch the entire 30 minute show here, as the guys went on to discuss Charlie Lindgren’s run in St. Louis and more.