Raycroft’s Special Skill
Mirtle doesn’t think very much of the Mike Gillis decision to hire Andrew Raycroft. I agree with his assessment of Raycroft and his views on the importance of a backup goalie. I also agree that there are much better goalies available. I don’t, however, believe the Canucks made a mistake. Raycroft is the most qualified player to fill the role the Canucks will have available.
I think it means the Canucks are on the verge of announcing an extension for Luongo, and that Andrew Raycroft is part of the solution to the Corey Schneider problem. If Luongo signs a long term deal, Schneider is going to have to be traded probably at the draft next year. The Canucks plan to market him this year by giving him all the games Luongo doesn’t play. He’ll be the real backup and keep sharp playing a lot of games in Manitoba.
Raycroft will only play in relief – if Luongo gets hurt or shelled in a game. To manage his role, Raycroft needs to be willing to sign a one year contract at the league minimum. He also has to be lousy enough to clear reverse waivers several times during the season. If Schneider is going to be bouncing up and down to get enough work, the Canuck’s other backup goalie will also be bouncing up and down. Will anyone claim Raycroft on reverse waivers if the Canucks have to pick up half his $500,000 salary? Gillis hopes not. What are the Gillis options given he needs a guy he can demote and promote at will?
Raycroft is really cheap and he really sucks and that’s exactly what the Canucks need this year. That might seem outrageous – it is outrageous – but given the CBA, this is a pretty smart signing. Is there anybody better at clearing waivers? That’s the special skill Raycroft brings to the table this year.
Mama Raycroft must be some proud of l’il Andy.
Raycroft is really cheap and he really sucks and that’s exactly what the Canucks need this year.
You just blew my mind. In a completely twisted way that shouldn’t make sense, it makes sense. I’ve always thought the fact that NHL teams can only really have 2 goalies up at once is ridiculous.
“Cheap suckage” is not a special skill that would be seen on most resumes, but it does make sense of a signing that puzzled me. Thanks for that.
Just have to second IAmJoe. That analysis is very twisted, but makes a lot of sense. If that’s the actual thinking behind the move we might have to worry about NJ hiring Gillis away from the Canucks when Lou is ready to retire.
Tom, this is exactly the way a few of my pals back home described it to me, so it must in fact be in the works. I’m not sure why they don’t just give Schneider 20 games and keep him up for a year, but shuttling him back and forth isn’t the worst idea.
Still, even if that’s the role, there were better choices than Raycroft!
When we first entered the capped world, the theory was that you would pay your workhorse goalie big bucks, and then sign a minimum salary schlep to mop up. In this year’s playoffs, though, workhorse goalies like Kiprusoff and Nabakov faded badly in the playoffs. In addition, we saw a lot of workhorse goalies go down with injuries during the regular season, shoving their backups into the spotlight.
To me, this highlights the need for a quality backup. I would rather save on fourth liners and sixth defencemen, guys who rarely see the ice in critical situations anyway, and spend it on a reliable #2 goalie.
This is part of the problem with having a guy like Luongo — great goalie and all, but he is going to sulk if he doesn’t play at least 70 games, so the Canucks twist themselves into a pretzel, and make some questionable personnel decisions in the process, in order to keep him happy.
James, it could easily be though that Raycroft is the only one to accept this role, assuming he’s aware that this is going to occur.
Tom, this is exactly the way a few of my pals back home described it to me, so it must in fact be in the works. I’m not sure why they don’t just give Schneider 20 games and keep him up for a year, but shuttling him back and forth isn’t the worst idea.
This will cost more, plus Schneider won’t play enough to get better, plus Luongo sits 10 games he doesn’t have to sit.
Still, even if that’s the role, there were better choices than Raycroft!
Yeah? Who do you like?
Any of the other available netminders who won’t find NHL homes. Many of these guys are going to take bench warming on a quality NHL club over riding the bus in the AHL.
Many of these guys are going to take bench warming on a quality NHL club over riding the bus in the AHL.
Yea but if they’re too good they get picked up on reverse waivers if some team’s starting or backup goalie goes down and they need a cheap insurance policy. That’s what the theory on Raycroft banks on: that he will never be good enough to be picked up on reverse waivers. A better choice than Raycroft actually means a worse choice than Raycroft. Beautiful, hilarious, bizarre, and asinine all at once.
There really should be some sort of an exemption for the third goalie. What happened with Wade Flaherty in Vancouver that one year was asinine.
That’s the way I see it Raj. Maybe I am giving Gillis too much credit here, but I think it is a good explanation for an otherwise inexplicable move. The Canucks will need that roster spot at some point and the best answer is a goalie who is so shitty teams will pass on him even at half price. There may be others who fit that bill, but I can’t think of a better than Raycroft goalie who is that shitty.
I think the whole thing is funny. Man, I hate this CBA.
Manny Legace? Joey MacDonald? Yann Danis? Martin Gerber, Kevin Weekes, Curtis Sanford, Dany Sabourin…
Or any top goalie from the AHL. Guaranteed they’re all better bets than Raycroft, who I’m guessing is still going to get 5-10 starts in Vancouver.
Maybe I am giving Gillis too much credit here, but I think it is a good explanation for an otherwise inexplicable move.
For once, I’m of the opinion that those who know what they’re talking about in the hockey blogging community are not giving an NHL GM too much credit. I think this has to be what Gillis is thinking. It’s strange and bizarre, for sure. I don’t find it nearly as contemptible as other aspects of current hockey thinking/practice, but whatever.
Legace, Danis, Gerber, Sanford, and Sabourin are all too good at playing goal to fit the description. They all have a non-negligible chance of playing well enough to be plucked on re-entry and cost Vancouver 250k for nothing and while burning a roster spot. MacDonald, I think, is potentially too good to not get plucked, and/or potentially not good enough to even serve the minimal spot/practice duty that Raycroft will be needed for (fairly mediocre AHL career, hard to fairly evaluate what he did last year playing on a terrible team that was just trying to hang on most nights). Weekes, I think, probably fits the Raycroft theory job description well: bona fide NHL goalie, check. Bona fide terrible NHL goalie, check. But given his bizarre previous experience in Vancouver, they went with Raycroft. Trash goes in trash can, makes sense.
The other alternative is get someone on a two-way contract.
Yea but then he still has to clear waivers every time you send them up and down (unless they’re on their entry level deal and I don’t think it’s a stretch to suggest that it would be cost prohibitive to get a goalie who’s worth anything and who’s still on their entry level deal). While this may save you the wated 250k, it doesn’t really solve the problem if they get picked up. I guess the Canucks could have signed someone like Darren Machesney, but Raycroft seems to satisfy all desires to a greater extent. No one has said that since John Ferguson Jr.
While this may save you the wated 250k, it doesn’t really solve the problem if they get picked up.
The Canucks don’t care about the $250,000. Does having a one way contract poison the pill a little more in terms of getting Raycroft through on waivers? I think so.
That’s why he got the one way deal even though everybody in the deal will know he will get more games in Manitoba than in Vancouver.
Legace, Danis, Gerber, Sanford, and Sabourin are all too good at playing goal to fit the description. They all have a non-negligible chance of playing well enough to be plucked on re-entry
How are they going to be playing well if, according to this plan, they never play? The only way they could be playing enough to become attractive is if the plan has fallen apart and they’re getting NHL games – which now will go to Raycroft.
Tom, this is exactly the way a few of my pals back home described it to me, so it must in fact be in the works. I’m not sure why they don’t just give Schneider 20 games and keep him up for a year, but shuttling him back and forth isn’t the worst idea.
They want Schneider to keep developing and improving, and he’s not going to do that on 20 games/year.
It’s not a complete given that Luongo will sign a contract extension. Call it insurance.
How are they going to be playing well if, according to this plan, they never play?
I phrased that poorly. What I should have said is something along the lines of, there’s a non-negligible chance that a team thinks those goalies can play well enough to warrant picking them up on re-entry. Your point is solid though. Also, I can’t imagine those goalies have any interest in taking a position as Luongo’s “backup.” Maybe it’s come to that for Sabourin, but the others have to at least view themselves as capable NHL goalies.
It’s inexplicable only because with Luongo in net Schneider will never see enough pucks, and with Gillis openly stating that they see Schneider in the team’s long term plans, you have to wonder if Schneider’s a wasted commodity.
This whole Raycroft things smells a little like Brent Johnson’s brief stint with us. Signed over the summer, battled for a spot, then waived and claimed by Washington in September.
It’s inexplicable only because with Luongo in net Schneider will never see enough pucks, and with Gillis openly stating that they see Schneider in the team’s long term plans, you have to wonder if Schneider’s a wasted commodity.
Gillis was blowing smoke. He’s not trading Schneider before the end of this season at the earliest so he can’t say anything but this for everybody’s sake. Schneider needs some NHL time to solidify his trade value. For his development he needs 50 games. So he’s the backup NHL goalie who frequently goes to Manitoba to play some games and stay sharp.
That seems to me to be a sensible plan for the Vancouver goaltending this year. The rub is that the Canucks need a third goalie in this scenario – to play in Manitoba when Schneider is in Vancouver and to sit on the end of the Canuck bench when Schneider is in the minors. I think that’s the job Raycroft just signed on to do.