Who Should Start in Net for the Flyers?
After a strong 2014-2015 season, Steve Mason made many Flyers fans and executives believe that the organization had finally found a franchise goaltender for the future.
However, Mason has not lived up to the hype in this 2016 campaign. With bad goals leaking through and a lack of big time saves, Mason has more losses then wins this season for a team which needs every win it can get in order to make the playoffs.
Luckily for the Flyers, free agent acquisition Michal Neuvirth has been a rock in net and is not only allowing the Flyers to win games, but is stealing them wins as well. The question then becomes, do the Flyers start giving Michal Neuvirth more time as the starter? The chart below endorses Neuvirth:
As you can see, Neuvirth has a better save percentage and a goals against average. What is also important to note is that an average goaltender would have given up ten more goals if he played in the games for Neuvirth. In comparison, if an average goaltender played for Mason, he would have given up 3 less goals.
With the season still relatively early, it is still premature to bash Steve Mason too much as many believe he will come around. However, if Neuvirth keeps winning games and the Flyers are in the playoff race down the stretch, it will be hard to sit him especially if Mason keeps up his mediocre play level. Either way, it is unlikely GM Ron Hextall sees either of the duo as part of the long term future for this team, as Anthony Stolarz and Fredrik Sjostrom are on the way and are both much younger, and much cheaper against the cap.
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Categorized:Flyers