From the Press Box: Value in the Crease

Following an MLB campaign where a starting pitcher was (incredibly) named the National League Most Valuable Player, the NHL may see a goalie snap up this important award.

The optics of Clayton Kershaw winning a season-long MVP, when he only appeared in 16.6 percent of his team's games certainly made this an unpopular choice in some circles, particularly when each league hands out a Cy Young Award for pitchers. The argument is very different in hockey, where a "workhorse"-type goalie will play upwards of 60 games (75 percent of the annual team total) and could, potentially, have a greater impact on his team's success.

Such is the landscape this season, when there is no runaway scoring leader who is also leading a top-performing team. Instead, the top two candidates who are garnering early consideration are goalies.

In the Eastern conference, Carey Price has elevated his game to a career-best season in the wake of his most recent Olympic Hockey gold medal effort. He has appeared in 43 of the Canadiens' 53 games and sports a 2.00 goals-against average along with a .933 save percentage. His backup, Dustin Tokarski, has appeared in 11 games and has produced a 2.56 GAA and .916 save percentage, giving the Canadiens a league-best overall defensive record. That's a good thing because they have only one player who ranks among the top-50 offensive point-producers in the league's individual scoring race.

Clearly, Price is central to their team success, but that is also predicated on a team-wide commitment to defense and a strong checking style of play. Price is now widely regarded as one of the top goalies in the world and is building a resume to support that claim.

There are precedents for a goalie winning the league MVP because many have played a large percentage of their team's games and excelled in impacting their team's fortunes. For Price, this season is his career-best and has allowed the Canadiens, a team cited as a relatively underwhelming offensive group, to challenge for Eastern conference supremacy, despite the fact that many opponents have much more prolific offenses. More often than not, Price has given Montreal such superior goaltending, as his 30-11-2 record would indicate, that he is fully deserving of his candidacy for the Hart Memorial Trophy.

In Nashville, Pekka Rinne has written a very similar story for the Predators this season. He has appeared in 40 of their 54 games (missing some time with a knee injury) and produced a 2.01 GAA and .929 save percentage. Those numbers have translated into a 31-7-0 record, also career-best marks. Carter Hutton is the backup here and again, for comparative purposes, we'll highlight his 2.65 GAA and .905 save percentage for his 14 appearances to underscore Rinne's profile.

The Predators have a better offensive profile than Montreal, with two players among the top-50 point producers in the league and an overall offensive ability that has been more impactful than Montreal's.

The Predators have always been known for a stout defensive commitment as the centerpiece of their team approach, and in recent years, Rinne's ability to perform at a high level has been an integral part of that plan.

Both goalies have been at the top of their games all year long and should both earn all the recognition that has come their way, while their teams compete for their respective Conference supremacy.

The value of goalies may vary depending on the structure of your fantasy leagues, but the performance of these two excellent players should serve as ample evidence that they can provide a big advantage if goalie stats are relevant to your leagues.

Goalie Injuries Can Really Hurt

In recent days, we have seen injuries take their toll on a number of first stringers.

In Anaheim, Frederik Andersen has provided fantasy owners with 29 wins and a 2.37 GAA in a season that began with no clear-cut No. 1 goalie. He beat out highly touted rookie, John Gibson, who subsequently got injured and was later relegated to the AHL for experience and conditioning.

Andersen is currently out with an upper-body injury that has landed him on the injured reserve list, which means he will be out at least a week or two. In his absence, veteran backup Ilya Bryzgalov has been awful, compiling a 1-4-0 record and an unsightly 4.19 GAA in eight appearances. The Ducks have promoted Gibson (2-2-0, 2.66 GAA in four early-season appearances) to try to fill the void. Even if he is successful, the Ducks will welcome Andersen back to active duty as soon as possible. He has won that much respect here in backstopping the Ducks to the top of the Pacific division.

The Blue Jackets have had an injury list for the ages as they have tried to stay in the Eastern conference playoff race. In late January they were dealt their most crippling blow when Sergei Bobrovsky was felled by a groin injury that has kept him out of the lineup since Jan. 21. He is not expected to return much before the end of February.

While they had as many as nine starters out of their lineup earlier in the season, at least they could look at their crease and see the former Vezina Trophy winner minding the store. Remarkably, he has a 16-15 record with a passable 2.85 GAA in 33 appearances, playing behind a team that has iced several AHLers on most nights due to the lengthy injury woes. He has resumed skating but is not going to return in time to alter the course of a non-layoff campaign for the Jackets. Curtis McElhinney, a career backup, is expected to get much of the work in the interim.

Unlike the Blue Jackets, the Red Wings have weathered the storm during the injury absence of starter Jimmy Howard (and backup Jonas Gustavsson). This speaks to the quality that remains in place throughout this roster. A group of young players, including Gustav Nyquist, Tomas Tatar and Danny DeKeyser, have stepped up into larger roles along side veterans Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall. The biggest development in this regard is the strong performance of Petr Mrazek, who has taken up the slack in goal by posting a 2.42 GAA and .914 save percentage in 19 appearances.

The Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist was well on his way to another outstanding season, with a 25-11 record and a sparkling 2.25 GAA before he was struck by a puck in the throat during a late January game. He is unquestionably the key player on the team, which has relied heavily on him to continue doing what he has done for several years. Cam Talbot is another career backup goalie who has been forced to take on a big load. The early returns are not good, with his failure to stop more than 90 percent of the shots he has faced in any of those recent games. Any continuation of this trend may well cost the Rangers a playoff berth because King Henrik is not expected to return until early March.

Similar to the Rangers' fortunes are those of the Flyers (only worse), as they were already faced with a gap between them and a playoff spot before starting goalie Steve Mason went down with a leg injury on Sunday. His value to the Flyers this season is also best described when compared to those of Ray Emery, the veteran backup: Mason has a 2.27 GGA in 34 games, while Emery has allowed a 3.25 GAA in his 22 appearances.

Most of these examples show just how valuable a starting goalie can be to his team. Similarly, good goalie depth is something that fantasy owners should not necessarily punt in those pools/leagues where goalie stats are important.

Paul Bruno has been writing about the fantasy sports scene for several years and is an accredited member of the sports media in Toronto for over 20 years. You are invited to send your feedback and you can follow him on Twitter (@statsman22) or watch him on 120Sports.