New Jersey Devils: How Does Keith Kinkaid Become Starter In Net?

The New Jersey Devils were dominant against the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals on Thursday night. Keith Kinkaid posted a shutout. It has to make fans think, how can he become the starter by the time Cory Schneider comes back?

The New Jersey Devils are jubilant after Thursday night’s 6-0 thrashing of the Washington Capitals. It was absolute domination from top to bottom. There was not one part of the Devils game that was a weakness, and at no point did the game feel in doubt.

One of the major reasons for that is the play of goaltender Keith Kinkaid. We aren’t going to pretend that Kinkaid had an extremely hard night. He only faced six high-danger chances against him, but he did stop them all. In comparison, the Devils had 15 high-danger chances. Not a great night for Pheonix Copley.

Kinkaid faced 21 shots overall, but a large majority just didn’t test him. They would hit him in the chest protector, or he could easily send the rebound to the corner. He only seemed like he was in trouble in the second half of the third period. Even then, he would stop the puck and hold it if anything seemed like it was turning into trouble.

Meanwhile, earlier today we learned that Cory Schneider is practicing in full. We could have an update soon on the man we expect to be the starter.

Cory Schneider update (via Hynes): "He's still practicing full & on that progression back to play. We're just not necessarily sure how quickly that will be. We'll probably know a little bit more the next 3-4 days where he's going to be at."
— Mike Morreale (@mikemorrealeNHL) October 11, 2018

Obviously, the Devils are going to take their time with Schneider if Kinkaid plays this well. Schneider needs the extra time to make sure his hip is fully healed. He’s played the last two seasons with injuries, and he looked like a shell of himself. Kinkaid stepped up in Schneider’s absence, and the Devils don’t make the playoffs without him. That’s not an opinion, that’s a fact.

So, what would Kinkaid need to do in order to supplant Schneider as the starter?

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It’s a really hard question to answer. For one, Kinkaid is a free agent at the end of the season. Two, Schneider makes $6 million per season for the next four seasons. Can the Devils afford to give the reigns to Kinkaid when he could leave at the end of the season, and be sitting with an $18 million dollar player that’s now untradable?

This regime showed in the past that money isn’t everything, so that might not be the end all be all in this argument. Still, we saw what Schneider is capable of in the playoffs. He has a small sample size, but he’s one of the best in the league in terms of postseason stats for goalies. Kinkaid, on the other hand, did not look good in his two games against the Tampa Bay Lightning last season.

The answer to the question is probably nothing. There’s nothing Kinkaid can do to be the number one goalie on this Devils team. Honestly, this Devils team will likely be a 1A, 1B situation when Schneider comes back. John Hynes doesn’t want to overwork his goalie, and he wants options if the team makes the playoffs. Kinkaid is playing like a man possessed to start the season, but Cory is coming. Now, if Schneider comes back and he’s not good, that would be a way for Kinkaid to take the reigns, like he did last season. Without seeing what Schneider has, it would be near impossible to take his position away for good.

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