Backup goalies are becoming even more important in the NHL

While fans and pundits debate the merits of having a true No. 1 goaltender, the league has seen an increase in high-quality backups.

More and more teams are employing a 1-A / 1-B system, with goalies splitting starts at a rate closer to 50-50 than ever before. Even teams with top-tier starters have reliable No. 2 keepers, including Charlie Lindgren of the Washington Capitals and Casey DeSmith of the Dallas Stars.

On Thursday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discuss the importance of a backup goalie and how the role has evolved through the years.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Charlie Lindgren looked really, really good for the Capitals against the Montreal Canadiens. You saw the Stars win with DeSmith in net against the Colorado Avalanche. It brings me to how 15 years ago, teams had backups where it was a punt day, where their starter would play 68, 70 games, and the backup would play 12, and it was only on back-to-back days. You would cross your fingers and hope the backup doesn’t give up five goals.

But those days are gone. With the workloads goalies have now, if you don’t have someone who can compliment a 1-A / 1-B system, I think you’re behind everybody else.

Carter Hutton: There are some teams where if their backup goalie is in the net, it feels like you have to worry about where the outcome will go. If you look back to last night with DeSmith and Dallas, he’ll get some tough starts. But he finds a way to go out and get a win.

Being able to have that depth, where you have a guy who can go in and play well under difficult circumstances, there’s an art to that. It’s so easy for us to say “he hasn’t played and he needs to get into a rhythm” — nobody cares. You have to do your job, because if you can’t do it, they’ll find someone who will, and that is a key piece to a lot of these teams’ successes.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…