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TSN Hockey Analyst

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TSN Hockey Analyst Jamie McLennan gives his weekly thoughts on goaltending stories. 

1) MIKE CONDON - He's made 15 straight starts and has had a few bumps along the way, but Condon has been an unreal acquisition for general manager Pierre Dorion and his management group. It's been a challenging season given Craig Anderson's situation and Condon has stabilized the position with consistent play to give his team a chance to get points on most nights. 

And Condon also has four shutouts, a number surpassed by only Braden Holtby, Tuukka Rask and Devan Dubnyk.  

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2) HENRIK LUNDQVIST - The King continues his inconsistent season. It looked like his game had stabilized going into the All-Star break going 3-1 before the weekend and playing with a lot more confidence. But he was pulled for the fifth time this season on Tuesday night. 

The one key thing I've noticed in Hendrik's game is that he's getting beat on a lot of shortside plays. He doesn't look set on a lot of them and there's too much motion in his game. 

His team can help him out by getting out of the way so he can have a clear sight line to the puck. Case in point on the first goal he allowed against Columbus on Tuesday night. But overall, Henrik has to help himself - something he's very capable of doing, He's not shy to work hard out of mini-slumps, but it just seems like there's more bumps in his road this season. 

3) YOUNG STARTERS - Teams have tried to 'produce' No. 1 goaltenders and as the statistics suggest, not every scenario is going to be a success story.

The Red Wings, Sabres, Lightning, Penguins, Jets, Ducks, Flames, Blues and Maple Leafs are all looking to have that regular go-to guy they can trust for 60-plus games. A guy who can be relied on year in and year out with consistent production. 

You could argue that Toronto has found their guy in Frederik Andersen, who after a rough start has stabilized and is proving to be a guy they want to build around. The same could be said for his former partner in Anaheim John Gibson. 

After that, it's been a struggle. In Detroit, Petr Mrazek has struggled to find the form that made in some people deem Jimmy Howard as expendable. The same can be said for Jared Coreau, who's had a few glimpses of showing he can be a good goalie at the NHL level. It's still a work in progress in Detroit. With expansion coming and the growing potential of missing the playoffs, there seems to be a lot of uncertainty in goal. 

The Sabres feels like their guy is Robin Lehner and he has all the tools to be a successful starter. But he's also had injury issues throughout his career, so his durability always comes into question when his name is brought up. If he can stay healthy, he has a chance to get to that next tier of starters. 

The Tampa Bay Lightning have an elite goalie on an expiring contract in Ben Bishop and a budding star in Andrei Vasilevskiy. But Vasilevskiy hasn't stabilized as quickly as some have hoped and still needs to go through the process of learning to play every night in the NHL. That creates a tough situation for Steve Yzerman and his management team, as they've struggled with consistency and injuries. I believe Vasilevskiy will be a great goaltender, but has his slower progress changed the mindset of what they'll do with Bishop? 

Dreger: Penguins may want to move Fleury sooner than later

Darren Dreger says NHL owners are clearly concerned about the implications of closing the league for three weeks to go to the Olympics, but that needs to be balanced against marketing possibilities in the Asian markets. Darren suggests Pittsburgh would like to move Marc-Andre Fleury sooner rather than later.

The Penguins are in a similar situation, but it's really about getting Matt Murray the experience he needs to continue to take the reigns in goal. He's showed he can be clutch when needed (like in the playoffs last year), but the regular season is taxing and both he and Marc-Andre Fleury have had small stretches that have been uninspiring. A Stanley Cup hangover coupled with a World Cup injury has just slightly stunted Murray's growth, but the Pens will have no issues with him being handed the keys this year as he's shown what he's capable of. 

In Winnipeg, we've seen the carousel going around with three goalies getting their turns in net. Connor Hellebuyck was given every opportunity to run with it and faltered. Michael Hutchinson has had a few games where he's been good, while Ondrej Pavelec was called up to help settle things down. 

There's has been a sense of uneasiness in net for the Jets, but I have no doubt that Hellebuyck will turn a corner. The challenge is stabilizing their goaltending in the midst of their playoff push and that's why you have seen some urgency there. They simply need to be consistent.
 
Meanwhile, Calgary has had a see-saw battle in net. Chad Johnson took the reigns early, but stumbled to opened the door for Brian Elliott. It's gotten to a point where head coach Glen Gulutzan has gone with "win and you're in." With both of them set to become UFAs and playing for long-term contracts (in Calgary or somewhere else), this healthy competition will be interesting down the stretch for the Flames. 

By comparison, Blues starter Jake Allen has had a nightmare season. Given the opportunity to step up, he hasn't been very good or consistent. It will be interesting to see if he can turn things around with Mike Yeo behind the bench and new goaltending coaches Ty Conklin and Martin Brodeur.