Season Grades: New Jersey Devils Goalie Keith Kinkaid

The New Jersey Devils season grades are back with goalie Keith Kinkaid. Kinkaid had a pretty bad 2015-16, where he had a .904 SV%. Keith had to battle for his spot during training camp and the preseason. He proved himself as solid backup.

Kinkaid had a solid bounce back year for the New Jersey Devils. His SV% was more than passable for a backup goalie, especially on a team like the Devils. Let’s take a more in-depth look at Keith Kinkaid’s 2016-17 season below.

All Situations Statistics

Games Played	Wins	Losses	OT	Goals Against	Shots Against
26	8	13	3	65	778
Saves	SV%	GAA	Shutouts	Minutes	Quality Starts
713	0.916	2.64	1	1476	12

5v5 Statistics

Shots Against	SV%	Goals Against	Low Danger SA	Low Danger GA	Low Danger SV%
580	92.41	44	228	2	99.12
Medium Danger SA	Medium Danger GA	Medium Danger SV%	High Danger SA	High Danger GA	High Danger SV%
229	20	91.27	123	22	82.11

Season Overview

A big thing for goalies is repetition. It’s difficult to get a good rhythm going when you’re a backup goalie, especially to a goalie like Cory Schneider who can play 15 games in a row.

He couldn’t string together good streaks for the Devils. He would have a .955 SV% over a series of games, but then would put together a .891 SV% over the next three. That could be because he wasn’t playing enough games, but still.

Kinkaid did have 12 games with a .916 SV% or higher. He also played very solid when he had to replace Cory during a game, putting up a .947 SV% when he came in mid-game. It was definitely an up and down season for Kinkaid.

Kinkaid had a Quality Start Percentage of .522, which is just under the league average of 53%. That’s not too bad for a backup goalie. It was also a step up from his .500 QS% the season prior.

A Deeper Look

Kinkaid actually had a better SV% on the penalty kill than Cory Schneider. Cory had more minutes, which can’t be overlooked, but Kinkaid. He was very good on the penalty kill. Out of goalies with 130 minutes, Kinkaid ranked 9th.

Since Kinkaid played backup minutes, I’m going to compare his numbers to backup goalies. Kinkaid’s 89.76 PK SV% was better than guys like Antti Raanta, Michal Neuvirth, Scott Darling, and Philipp Grubauer.

His 5v5 SV%, on the other hand, was pretty bad compared to some of these guys. His 92.41 5v5 SV% was ahead of guys like Neuvirth, Michael Hutchinson, and Louis Domingue. However, just one of these players are on good teams.

One thing that really hurt Kinkaid this year was his MDSV% and HDSV%. Both of these were on the lower end among backup goalies. Kinkaid had one of the lowest MDSV% of goalies in his timon-on-ice per game range, and his HDSV% was only better than a handful of guys.

That might be because the New Jersey Devils weren’t great last season, but that shouldn’t reconcile him from those poor numbers.

Final Season Grade: B

Kinkaid was a perfectly fine backup for the New Jersey Devils. He wasn’t outstanding or anything like that, but the Devils could’ve done worse behind Schneider. Considering his role on the team, a B is justified.

More from Pucks and Pitchforks

With all of that being said, I’m not sure what happens with Kinkaid. He is an unrestricted free agent, and at some point Scott Wedgewood will get a real chance of taking his spot. Does he get a one year deal? Does he even take that, or does he sign with a team looking for a capable backup goalie?

Keith Kinkaid played well enough to earn the backup position, and he didn’t give that role up all year. His play also gave Cory some much-needed rest during a down year. When it comes down to it, Kinkaid did exactly what he had to do this year.

(Statistics via Hockey-Reference.com and Corsica.hockey)

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New Jersey Devils 2016-17 Season Grade: Keith Kinkaid

By Nicholas Breitenstine | Apr 28, 2017