What does the future hold for the Florida Panthers’ other goalie?
One of the weirdest, most unlikely developments of the 2019-20 NHL season was the sudden emergence of Chris Driedger as a viable NHL goalie with the Florida Panthers.
The 76th overall pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, Driedger made his NHL debut as a member of the Ottawa Senators on March 26th, 2015, and would appear in two more games for the club before being released in 2018 after five years with the organization. From there, Driedger signed an AHL contract with Florida affiliate the Springfield Thunderbirds and eventually worked his way up to a full-on contract with the Panthers in April of 2019.
Fast forward to the start of the NHL season, and Driedger was not only an official member of the Panthers’ opening day roster but the primary backup to two-time Vezina winner Sergei Bobrovsky.
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Now granted, it’s not like the Panthers ran a 50-50, two-goalie system, or even some sort of three goalie platoon, but when Bobrovsky needed a night off, or head coach Joel Quenneville wanted to shake things up in the net, Driedger proved himself a viable 1b, even beating out the team’s own draftee Sam Montembeault.
And, in an even weirder twist of fate, Driedger actually outperformed Bobrovsky from a statistical standpoint.
Over his 12 games of action (11 starts) in 2019-20, Driedger saved 332 of the 354 shots on his goal for an average of 2.05 goals per game, which was tied for the best mark in the NHL with Anaheim Ducks reserve Anthony Stolarz. He also finished out the regular season with a ‘quality starts percentage’ of 72.7, the seventh-highest mark in the NHL and a good 31 points higher than Bobrovsky.
Again, the sample size is small, and Bobrovsky was the clear choice to start the Panthers’ four-game series against the New York Rangers, but that doesn’t discount Driedger; if anything, it proves the Panthers’ front office was savvy for giving the then-24-year-old a two-year extension after recording a similar .924 save percentage over his 32 game tenure with the Thunderbirds in 2018-19.
So, over Driedger’s last 44 games split between the NHL and AHL, he’s maintained a save percentage of roughly 93. Is that even remotely maintainable moving forward?
That, my friends, could make or break the Panthers’ defense for years to come.
With Bobrovsky under contract through the 2025-26 season on a massive seven-year, $70 million deal, he likely will remain the team’s top goalie for the foreseeable future. I mean, why wouldn’t he? He just finished out his eighth straight season with at least a 90 percent save percentage and was able to block 109 of the 121 shots on goal versus the Rangers. With that in mind, having a second, slightly younger option capable of performing at a similar level is incredibly valuable if for no other reason than that teams are usually willing to surrender a King’s ransom – well, maybe not the Kings random from the Wayne Gretzky 30-for-30 – for said player’s services.
If the Panthers can somehow transform Driedger into an impactful top-four defenseman, well, that would make the $1.7 million over two seasons extension he agreed to back in April of 2019 one of the best value deals of all time.
Alternatively, maybe Driedger will fall back to earth somewhat in 2021 and will simply remain with the team indefinitely as their top backup on a cap-friendly deal in the $1-3 million AAV range. That’s not quite as exciting, but a positive step forward none the less.
Barring a complete and total collapse in his game the likes of which we haven’t seen since the Philadelphia Flyers bought out the final seven(!) years of Ilya Bryzgalov’s contract, it’s clear the Florida Panthers are better off with Chris Driedger on their roster than off of it. While his exact career trajectory is very much up in the air, as there’s a world where he could even beat out Sergei Bobrovsky for the starting role long-term, Driedger’s performance in 2020-21 will be one of the most interesting to watch in the entire NHL next season, as it could create a domino effect that impacts much more than the only professional hockey franchise in the greater Miami area.