Arizona Coyotes Goaltender Mike Smith Is Practicing Again; Which Goalie Is The Odd Man Out?
With Mike Smith returning to practice, the Arizona Coyotes are nearing decision day with their goaltending situation. Who stays and who goes?
After a long absence, the Arizona Coyotes now have Mike Smith practicing with the team once again.
He led the team in stretches yesterday and took shots from his teammates for the first time since going out with a core muscle injury in December.
Smith’s return to practice comes as the Coyotes are in the throes of a five game losing and find themselves six points out of third in the Pacific Division and four points back of Nashville for the final Western Conference wild card spot.
While the Arizona Coyotes’ playoff hopes will possibly be decided before he takes the ice in an NHL game, Mike Smith’s return raises important questions about the future of the two goalies behind him in the pecking order.
His backup, Anders Lindback, has been an unmitigated disaster after a couple of wins early in the season. He has an .894 save percentage and his goals against average is 3.11.
Due to Lindback’s issues Louis Domingue was allowed an extended run as the Coyotes’ number one goaltender and has seen much better results than either of the backstops who were on the NHL roster on opening night.
Domingue has played in 20 games and managed a .915 save percentage and 2.61 goals against average. Domingue actually possessed a save percentage higher than .920 for the majority of his time in the number one spot.
To say Louis took the bull by the horns during Mike Smith’s absence would be a huge understatement. His play has been the biggest reason why the Arizona Coyotes have hung in this Pacific Division playoff race this long.
With the return of Smith, though, the situation becomes murky.
Mike Smith himself had a .901 save percentage and 3.06 goals against average in 22 starts before he went down with injury. It’s unclear how much of his poor numbers were related to the injury and how much is simple decline with age and injury piling up.
Whatever the reason, it’s fair to say that Don Maloney and Dave Tippett will give Mike Smith the opportunity to win back his spot as the number one netminder for the Arizona Coyotes.
Whether he is still capable of that or not is irrelevant.
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Right now the question becomes who the odd man out is between Domingue and Lindback.
If we go by merit alone, Louis Domingue should finish the season in Glendale and Anders Lindback should be given his walking papers via trade or being waived.
Lindback’s play this season has been below the standard of even a backup NHL goaltender. I would be shocked if any NHL team wants to take a chance on him at the deadline. He never seems comfortable in net and his lateral movement in the crease leaves something to be desired.
With the Coyotes slipping further and further behind in the Pacific, however, I would not be surprised if Maloney allows Lindback to finish the season with Arizona. He could justify this by promising Domingue the opportunity to play in the NHL full-time next season as long as the team and Domingue can come to terms on a new contract.
That line of thinking is not without it’s merits, particularly if the Arizona Coyotes want to see if Mike Smith can bounce back down the stretch in extended minutes.
Considering how injury-prone Smitty has been in recent years, though, the smarter decision for the team is the jettison of Lindback. A large part of Mike Smith’s issues beyond his age – much like his oft-injured counterpart Pekka Rinne – may stem from Dave Tippett’s overuse of the goaltender.
Is it wise to throw Mike Smith out on the ice for 70% or more of the games once he returns? I would argue no.
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A balanced approach for the rest of the season would seem more appropriate, followed by Domingue cutting into Smith’s lion’s share of starts next season.
Instead of Mike Smith averaging 70% plus of the starts when healthy, I would like to see that number drop closer to 60/40 with Louis Domingue picking up a greater percentage of the starts next season provided both goaltenders are performing.
For now, though, next season is a million miles away.
The goaltending situation at the end of February is the next milemarker to cross and it will be intriguing to see how much Maloney and the Arizona Coyotes value Domingue after his performance this season.