“Give me golf clubs, fresh air and a beautiful partner, and
you can keep the clubs and the fresh air.”
-- Jack Benny
Backup goaltenders make up an odd fraternity in the
NHL. Some are youngsters on their way up
the ladder to a number one position. Others
are insurance against shaky performance by the number one goalie they work
behind. Others are on the last lap of
their careers, grooming young phenoms taking their first steps as a number one
goalie. And others are backups.
It might be the most underrated, underappreciated position
in teams sports. A backup goaltender in
the NHL might get 15-30 starts, and those represent standings points a
successful team just cannot afford to give away with poor netminding. Which brings us to Pheonix Copley. Last season, 22 goaltenders had 15-30
starts. Not all were backups in the
traditional sense (Stanley Cup winning netminder Jordan Binnington is in this
group), but it is a group representative of the position. In that group, Copley finished in the middle
of the pack generally – 10th in goals against average (2.90), 12th
in save percentage (.905), one of 15 in the group with at least one shutout (he
had one), 14th in even strength save percentage (.912), 14th
in save percentage when shorthanded (.857).
Copley’s season divides into two parts. Even with having allowed six goals on 36
shots in his first appearance of the season, a 6-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils
on October 11th, he was 10-2-2, 2.59, .916, with one shutout in his
first 15 appearances (one no-decision).
However, in his last 12 appearances, he was 6-5-1, 3.31, .889.
Odd Copley Fact…
Pheonix Copley was the only goaltender last season with a
Gimmick save percentage under .600 (.583) and a winning record in the trick
shot phase (2-1).
Bonus Odd Copley Fact…
Among 54 goaltenders with at least ten wins last season,
Copley had the third-worst save percentage in wins (.924) and the fifth-worst
goals against average (2.33).
Fearless’ Take…
Only once in 10 appearances against teams that qualified for
the playoffs last season did Pheonix Copley allow more than three goals (he
allowed seven against Nashville in a 7-2 loss on January 15th). He was 4-4-2 against playoff eligible teams
with a 2.79 goals against average and a .903 save percentage.
Cheerless’ Take…
He seemed to be a bit more of a passenger against weaker
teams. Copley was 12-3-1 (one no
decision) in games against teams not qualifying for the playoffs, but his goals
against average (2.98) and save percentage (.905) were not especially
impressive.
Potential Milestones:
- Top-20 in career wins as a Capitals goaltender (16; he needs five to tie Dave Parro and Rick Tabaracci for 20th place (21)).
- 1,000 shots faced as a Capital goaltender (776; he needs 224)
- 1,000 saves as a Capital goaltender (702; he needs 298)
The Big Question… Is Pheonix Copley the backup goaltender,
or is he keeping the seat warm for Ilya Samsonov?
Draft pedigree might mean less for goaltenders than for any
position on the ice. Perhaps the most
extreme example of this phenomenon is Dominik Hasek, who was a 10th
round draft pick (199th overall) in the 1983 Entry Draft. He had a nice career. Ilya Samsonov is not Dominik Hasek, but he is
the highest goaltender draft pick in Capitals history (22nd overall in 2015)
with the exception of Olaf Kolzig (19th overall in 1989), and he is
perhaps the most well thought of prospect in the Capitals system. He is seen by many as the number one
goaltender in waiting.
However, Samsonov has yet to dress for an NHL regular season
game, and he has only 37 regular season and five postseason games of experience
in the AHL. It would be risk of a high
order for the Caps to install Samsonov as the backup to Braden Holtby, given
that profile. On the other hand, Copley
has NHL experience. Not a lot, mind you
(29 regular season games). But he did
show promise as a reliable backup with a couple of impressive streaks last
season, a 15-game run in which he allowed more than three goals only once and
more than two goals only five times, and a six-game winning streak late in the
season in which his goals against average was a very good 2.61.
As with almost everything Capitals in the preseason, salary
cap issue have to be considered. Copley
is under contract at an annual cap hit of $1.1 million for the next three
seasons. Samsonov’s cap hit is smaller
at $925,000 for each of the next two seasons, and while the difference is not
great, the Caps are close enough to the cap to make every dollar something to
scrutinize. There is also the matter of
the expansion draft to populate the new Seattle franchise lurking. But for the time being, the Caps are faced
with the matter of how to juggle goaltending time behind Braden Holtby,
balancing the need to keep Copley sharp with the desire to give Samsonov (and, perhaps,
Vitek Vanecek) a taste of NHL action.
In the end…
Pheonix Copley might not be the goaltender of the future for
the Capitals, but it would be quick to conclude that he could not fill the
backup role adequately for this team.
Last year was, after all, his first full NHL season. More consistency might be something to look
for, and perhaps relying less on run-support for wins. But whatever shortcomings Copley has, they
are, by and large, the sorts of things that can improve with experience.
Caps fans were spoiled for a few seasons with Philipp
Grubauer manning the backup spot as perhaps the best in that role in the NHL
for much of that tenure. Copley might
never get to that level of performance, but if he can keep the Caps competitive
on nights Braden Holtby gets a break, he can play the vital role of helping to
keep the number one netminder fresh while giving the Caps a chance to give Ilya
Samsonov a number one goalie’s workload in Hershey in anticipation of that day
when it might be his turn to take over the reins of the number one spot. In that regard, Copley’s importance to this
team this season as Braden Hotlby’s partner should not be underestimated or
taken for granted. It could mean the
Caps avoiding golf and the fresh air a bit longer than they did last season.
Projection: 19 games, 10-6-1, 2.88, .906
Photo: Nick Wass/AP Photo