The Devils shocked the hockey world when they traded for superstar goaltender Connor Hellebuyck a little more than a week ago. The deal, which sent Dawson Mercer, Nico Daws, Alexander Command, Nick Bjugstad, and a pair of picks to the Winnipeg Jets, brought the best goaltender the Devils have had since Martin Brodeur to the organization.
It was a welcome and settling move for the New Jersey Devils, who have had their fair share of goaltending issues since Cory Schneider was a member of the team. Since he left, the Devils have had to deal with the likes of Andrew Hammond, Jon Gillies, Vitek Vanecek, and Akira Schmid, all of whom have either left the league or have been relegated to backup duties. Jacob Markstrom was streaky at best in his tenure with New Jersey, as were Daws and MacKenzie Blackwood. Corey Crawford retired before playing a single game with the Devils. Jonathan Bernier was forced to retire early from injury. The list goes on and on.
The overarching point is that the Devils have tried out a lot of goaltenders, none of whom have really worked outside of a backup level -- Jake Allen has been largely excellent in his role with the Devils, but he too struggled when given a starter's workload. Acquiring Hellebuyck, then, whose worst seasons are more consistent and at a higher level than the vast majority of other goalies' average campaigns, was of paramount importance.
It was especially pressing for this Devils team, one that has largely controlled the vast majority of possession, expected goals, scoring chances, et cetera, and have been subject to more losses than they deserve as a result of some poor netminding. In theory, just average goaltending would ensure that the Devils are going to win far more than they lose.
That's exactly what Hellebuyck has provided. So far, he has started twice -- once against the Dallas Stars and once against the Vegas Golden Knights -- and won both games, giving up just three goals in that span. Two of them were on ridiculous tip-ins, and one was on a beautiful passing play that he had no chance to save. Every shot he faced where you could say "A goalie should save that" has been saved, and he's provided the Devils with a couple of incredible saves to boot.
In those two games, the Devils had given up a respective 1.65 and 1.86 expected goals (xG). Against Dallas, Hellebuyck was slightly better than average, with a goals saved above expected (GSAx) of +0.65. Against Vegas, he was practically exactly average (if not a twinge below), with a GSAx of -0.14. Again, the Devils won both games, showing that exactly all they need is average or better netminding to win the majority of their games in dominating fashion.
Again, the Devils won both games, showing that exactly all they need is average or better netminding to win the majority of their games in dominating fashion. Nothing spectacular. Just. Average.
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