Philadelphia Flyers: Goaltending Position Wide Open for Michal Neuvirth
Michal Neuvirth enters the season with plenty to prove. With the Philadelphia Flyers having an open goaltending situation, this is his chance to earn a starting role.
Michal Neuvirth has not been terrible as an NHL goaltender. In fact, he’s been quite good. Healthy, however, is a completely different story. On Saturday against the New York Islanders, Neuvirth made his season debut for the Philadelphia Flyers.
Whether it is a collection of short-term issues or a more serious injury, he has yet to find consistency at the NHL level. Neuvirth has bounced around from the Washington Capitals to the Buffalo Sabres and the Islanders for two brief stints, and now he’s with the Flyers.
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When called upon, Neuvirth has done well for the Flyers. However, Brian Elliot continues to be the big man on campus, and Neuvirth has done little to change that.
His career 0.910 save percentage with the Flyers is not bad at all. However, Neuvirth has only started 82 games since 2015-16. His streaky play and unreliability has forced him into a backup journeyman role at just 30 years old.
A lot more was expected of the fourth round pick. Neuvirth, with a strong season, can kick the injury bug once and for all, a permanent home with the Flyers is not out of the question.
Brian Elliot, 33, is also a streaky goaltender. With flashes of elite play comes inconsistent reliability over the course of a full season. This is the main reason Elliot was the original tandem goaltender, dating back to his days with the St. Louis Blues alongside Jaroslav Halak. This is also why the Flyers have been hoping to bank on Elliot and Neuvirth to carry their goaltending duties. So far, not so good.
Outside of Elliot and Neuvirth, the defense is quite young and unreliable as well. While their best players are more offensive minded, the Flyers have always had issues with maintaining a strong defensive group. This is also why the goaltending position seems to be a revolving door in Philadelphia, but Elliot and Neuvirth were called upon to change that.
Of all the previous tandems and project goaltenders, Elliot and Neuvirth have the most potential right now. Carter Hart is a great prospect in the pipeline, but the Flyers will do everything they can to ensure their current tandem succeeds. Not to mention, there is not reason to rush their most promising goaltending prospect in years.
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The Flyers have all the pieces to be a successful team, they just need to put the puzzle together. Whether it’s consistent production up front, or more reliability on defense and in goal, the Flyers need to find the right balance soon.