New Jersey Devils: Cory Schneider Back to Being a Top 5 NHL Goalie
The New Jersey Devils acquired Cory Schneider from the Vancouver Canucks in 2013 for a 1st round pick. Since then he’s been a consistently great goalie on a weak Devils team. Fortunately for Schneider and the Devils this year has seen a big turnaround.
With the Devils currently in 1st place in the Metropolitan Division it’s time for Cory Schneider to get the recognition he deserves. He’s been one of the best goalies in the entire league in 2016-17. For comparisons sake we’ll look at Schneider, Andrei Vasilevksy, Corey Crawford, Jonathan Quick, and Sergei Bobrovsky.
To preface this, all stats I’ll be using will be 5v5.
SV%
Vasilevsky 94.2
Quick 93.43
Crawford 93.38
Schneider 93.36
Bobrovsky 93.27
4th out of 5 in this elite group and only .02 behind Corey Crawford is significant. For a goalie that plenty of people were wondering if he was finished after last year, these numbers are more than acceptable.
That’s good, but lets take a look at dSv%. This is a stat from Corsica that factors in shot quality. This is important when evaluating a goalie like Schneider who plays behind a weaker defensive corps.
dSv%
Bobrovsky 1.89
Crawford 1.52
Vasilevsky 1.44
Schneider 1.44
Quick 1.26
Schneider is tied for 3rd in this group. It should be evident to anyone watching Devils games and to anyone seeing these numbers that Schneider is one of the most important Devils.
Now lets take a look at one last stat. GSAA. For those that don’t know, GSAA is essentially how many goals a goalie has kept out compared to an average NHL goalie. Zero is average and anything above that is good.
GSAA
Bobrovsky 14.36
Vasilevsky 10.41
Crawford 9.9
Schneider 9.55
Quick 8.23
Schneider is goalie number four out of five. Again, Devils fans should be very happy about this. Schneider is clearly one of the top 5 goalies in the league this year and is a huge reason this team has had so much early success.
If the Vezina was being awarded today, I think the obvious choice would be Sergei Bobrovsky. However, at the very least Schneider would have to be in the conversation. If the Devils defense can improve it’s play, Schneider numbers should improve.
Now, knowing the impact Schneider has had throughout this season lets take a look at the past 7 games.
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The Devils are 6-0-1 in those games. Over this stretch, Schneider has posted an all situation SV% of 93.72. The Devils are having a great year and are currently in a great stretch. A large portion of that can be attributed to Cory Schneider.
I’m not usually one to use wins or GAA as I also view those as team stats, but the fact that Schneider already has 17 wins in 28 starts compared to 20 in his 59 starts last year just shows the jump this Devils team made.
Schneider should easily be the 2nd goalie for the Metropolitan Division at the All Star Game. He’s also seriously worked himself into the Vezina Conversation.
Schneider is back to his old ways and is showing no signs of slowing down. It’s time for him to receive some national appreciation.