Current Goaltending Situations: Southeast Division

Here is the current goaltending situation for the Southeast Division:

Team: Atlanta Thrashers
Goaltenders: Johan Hedberg/Ondrej Pavelec
Starter: Up In The Air
Injuries: Kari Lehtonen
Sleepers: Ondrej Pavelec
Situation: Unsettled
Things are just a mess in Atlanta between the pipes. Lehtonen is injured and slowly losing his starting job to anyone who can play more consistent. Lehtonen was supposed to be their franchise goaltender, and so far, he’s been anything but franchise worthy. Enter Johan Hedberg. Heddy has had some experience in the NHL over the years and has battled with Lehtonen over the past 2 seasons for playing time. He’s certainly capable of getting the Thrash through the season, however, certainly not a player you want to build a young franchise around. Enter Ondrej Pavelec. He’s a solid goaltender that could give Kari a run for his money as the starter in Atlanta next year. For those of you scouting goaltenders for next year, keep Pavelec in the back of your mind; a serious sleeper for 2009-2010 season. If Lehtonen returns and gets a win or two, make sure you sell, sell, sell!

Team: Carolina Hurricanes
Goaltenders: Cam Ward/Michael Leighton
Starter: Cam Ward
Injuries: None
Sleepers: Michael Leighton
Situation: Rock Solid
Ward is playing well as of late and has emerged as Carolina’s main man once again. In the beginning of the season, Leighton was giving Ward a run for his money between the pipes, however, they have opted for old faithful. He has a couple more years left before he becomes a restricted free agent, so those of you in keeper leagues have a few more years left on him and those of you in year-to-year leagues, he’s in a terrible division, so he’ll have the opportunity to nab more wins than if he were in the Northeast or Atlantic. He’s not an all-star, however, he’ll get the job done for your team. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Leighton will be there for sure over the next several seasons waiting for his opportunity to steal the starting job. He put up some sick numbers with Albany last year, so we know he has the talent. Stay tuned.

Team: Tampa Bay Lightning
Goaltenders: Mike Smith/Olaf Kolzig
Starter: Mike Smith
Injuries: Mike Smith (source)
Sleepers: Karri Ramo, Riku Helenius
Situation: Up In The Air
News of Mike Smith’s injury surfaced today and it sounds like a day-to-day diagnosis, however, you can never tell with ‘lower body injuries.’ Kolzig will be in net until Smith recovers. Kolzig has been less than impressive in the few starts that he has seen this season and it could just pile on to the Lightning’s woes right now. Before the season began, Melrose told the press that Smith was going to be their number one goaltender despite any struggles or mishaps. With Melrose gone, it should be interesting to see how Tocchet handles the two goaltenders. There may be an ongoing battle for playing time if Tampa continues to struggle, so be prepared to platoon the tenders on your team for the remainder of the season if need be. Also remember that Tampa has Karri Ramo and Riku Helenius waiting in the shadows, so the pressure is certainly on. We’ve seen Ramo before and it wasn’t pretty, however, if I had to venture a guess, I would say that they could showcase Helenius if Smith completely falls apart. Remember, they have Smith through the 2011-2012 season but a lot can happen between now and then. For right now, sit on Smith and hope that he returns to action within the next week and picks up his game under a new head coach.

Team: Florida Panthers
Goaltenders: Thomas Vokoun/Craig Anderson
Starter: Thomas Vokoun
Injuries: None
Sleepers: None
Situation: Solid (but struggling)
Vokoun has had an ugly season thus far and to be honest, Anderson has looked like the better tender in the limited time that he has seen. I don’t foresee a goaltending controversy right now because the team is young and this was, in a way, expected, however, if Vokoun starts getting the goal support that he needs and still gives up 4 or 5 a game, we may have a slight issue. Expect Vokoun to continue to start but if you wanted to have an insurance policy, Anderson wouldn’t be a bad play at all. The team is giving their rookies and young guns a chance to earn their NHL legs, so be patient with this team and with Vokoun. Once they develop some chemistry and start to gel, Vokoun can certainly take the reigns and make them a playoff caliber team.

Team: Washington Capitals
Goaltenders: Jose Theodore/Brent Johnson
Starter: Jose Theodore
Injuries: None
Sleepers: Semen Varlamov
Situation: Up In The Air
The off-season move that dumbfounded me the most was Washington allowing, in my opinion, a great goaltender in Huet to walk, and bring in Jose Theodore. Yes, Theodore was a great goaltender at one point in his career but that was then and this is now. He had a terrible run in Colorado and is off to a less than impressive start this year. You could easily say that the Caps have taken a step backward by signing him instead of Huet, and it may be difficult to achieve the totals that they did last year with Jose between the pipes. They certainly won’t make Johnson the starter but could give him more starts than many anticipated this season. Treat Theodore as at least a 2nd, if not a 3rd option for your fantasy team and try to be patient. He’s got two more seasons after this season with the Caps, so he better get his act together. Semen Varlamov will most likely not make an appearance with the Caps unless they really, really start to struggle, or catch the injury bug, but he is worth throwing on your watch list to see how the Caps proceed with Theodore.