Penguins acquire Vokoun - 06-04-12
Well the goaltending situation just got a little bit more interesting.
The Penguins acquired the signing rights to former all-star goaltender Tomas Vokoun from the Washington Capitals in exchange for a seventh-round pick in 2012. They then agreed to a two-year contract worth a total of $4 million. He will have a salary cap hit of $2 million.
Vokoun, 35, appeared in 48 games last season and compiled a record of 25-17-2 with a 2.51 goals against average, .917 save percentage and four shutouts. He was sidelined for much of the season due to "lower-body" ailment and missed all 14 of the Capitals' postseason games due to a groin injury.
A few highlights:
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In a 14 year career with the Canadiens, Predators, Panthers and Capitals, Vokoun, a native of the Czech Republic, has a record 287-284-78 with a 2.55 goals against average, .917 save percentage and 48 shutouts. He has been selected to all-star games in 2004 and 2005.
While in Nashville, he played for Ray Shero, who was an assistant general manager at the time and with current Penguins executive Tom Fitzgerald, the Predators' former captain.
EN Says: This is not your typical back-up goaltender. This is more of a 1A goaltender. Vokoun is not here to play 15 games a season and hold the bench door open. He's here to push Marc-Andre Fleury as well as take some of the heavy lifting off his hands. And that's exactly what this team needs.
This past season, Fleury had a strong regular season and logged a career-high 67 games. The team struggled to find consistency with his back-up in Brent Johnson and Brad Thiessen. As a result, Fleury played a few too many games than management would have hoped. By the time the playoffs rolled around, Fleury was hardly at his best.
If you don't think strong back-up goaltenders have their value, take a look at the success the Rangers and Devils had this season with their top goaltenders, Henrik Lundqvist and Martin Brodeur. Their No. 2 goaltenders, Martin Biron and Johan Hedberg, each played in excess of 20 games and limited the workloads for their respective No. 1 goaltenders.
Vokoun will change that. While he has dealt with injuries this past season, he is here to play upwards of 25 games a season and to be a far more dependable presence than Johnson was last season. Vokoun should be the team's best backup goaltender since the days of Ken Wregget.
Vokoun is a unorthodox goaltender in terms of style. Think of a poor man's Tim Thomas. Additionally, he catches with his right hand which is a rarity. In the parlance of hockey people, Vokoun is a "silly side" goaltender.
The biggest concern with Vokoun is his health. Injuries have hampered him over much of the past five seasons. This is the Czech version of Kari Lehtonen.
As for Brent Johnson, this all but brings an end to his career as a Penguin. He is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent July 1. For Brad Thiessen, you have to wonder if he's willing to stay with the team for another two seasons as the No. 3 goaltender with the organization.
(Photo: First-Patrick McDermott/Getty Images; Johnson and Fleury-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)