The NHL has been a two goaltender per team league for ever, but this season it has become a cautionary tale. Now, GM are being forced to consider adding a third goaltender to their NHL rosters.
After star goalie Roberto Luongo and backup Al Montoya got injured in the same game, the Florida Panthers have reason to worry about their next few games now that they are day-to-day. Veteran Dan Ellis and youngster Sam Brittain were called up from the AHL and although they are a pretty solid tandem for a minor league team, fans are wondering if they are good enough to backstop the playoff-starving Panthers during crunch time.
The question of having a quality third goalie that can come up from the minors seemed like a redundant question before the Panthers-Maple Leafs game on Tuesday, but after that crazy scenario, NHL management may want to look into this debate. Once Dan Ellis starts for the Panthers, that means only five teams in the league that have only used only two goalies this season, according to NHL.com. That is down from eleven in 2012-13.
Andrew Hammond is a prime example why sometimes third-string goalies can be valuable at some moments. After Ottawa’s top two guys Craig Anderson and Robin Lehner went down, Hammond, a virtual no-name in the hockey world, came out of nowhere to backstop the Senators, earning an NHL first star of
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the week in the process.
Here is a look at some of the top NHL third-string goalies in the NHL
I think that the main reason why NHL teams are unwilling to get a quality third string goalie is because GMs believe it is a waste of roster space and cap space for a guy who will likely be a healthy scratch most of the time. Why would you sign Tim Thomas, Tomas Vokoun, or Nikolai Khabibulin, who could all probably be a backup goalie in the NHL, to sit for most of the season? You would also have to sign them to a one-way contract, so sending them down to the minors risks losing them. Cristopher Nilstorp signed in Sweden as a free agent because of the tough goalie market this offseason for more ice time and better opportunities.