Arizona Coyotes : The inner goaltending competition in Arizona

The Arizona Coyotes are currently carrying 3 goaltenders. On a team plagued with injuries in the net carrying 3 goalies might be the best decision.

Darcy Kuemper has played like a brick wall throughout the first two games of the season. Having a save percentage of .945. Antti Raanta has more experience than any other goalie on the roster, but has been plagued with injuries the last few years. While Eric Comrie was claimed from waivers by the Coyotes, showing the team sees something in him.

Having 3 goaltenders has strengths and weakness, such as it splits up the work load in practice. However it also makes things more complicated when it comes to who gets a start.

During a stretch of games where you play only twice in six days having 3 goaltenders does not help a team. However during a busy regular season where you have 5 games in 7 days it really can make all the difference.

Eric Comrie is not joining the Coyotes to serve as a practice goaltender, or to make the work loads of Antti Raanta and Darcy Kuemper easier. He is here to make a difference on the roster. Comrie is only 24 years old and was drafted in the 2nd round in 2013. During his short NHL career so far he has only played in 5 NHL games. The Coyotes opted to pick him up knowing that he could make a difference in a few years. However when you consider that Raanta and Kuemper are both signed for the next few seasons bringing in Comrie is a questionable move.

Let’s take a look at the three goaltenders in question for the Coyotes and what kind of impact they can make on the organization.

Antti Raanta

Antti Raanta has played in 153 NHL games over the course of his NHL career. It looked like he had finally earned the Arizona Coyotes starting position when he was injured last season after playing in just 12 games.

Raanta finally seems to be back to full force and was recalled from the Tucson Roadrunners after playing a game and working on some conditioning. Going into the next few weeks it will be interesting to see who gets the majority of the starts moving forward. With Raanta gone, Darcy Kuemper has stepped up big in his absence.

Darcy Kuemper

Darcy Kuemper has become the Arizona Coyotes starting goaltender. Last season Kuemper played in 55 games, and 2 more this season. In the two games this season Kuemper has played great, and saved the team from a few big goals along the way.

Darcy Kuemper’s stock is rising and considering he just signed a two-year contract extension for next season, the Coyotes see him as their goalie.

Maybe I am wrong and Raanta will step back into the net with the team now that he is healthy. In 2017-18 Raanta played in 47 games and had a goals against average of 2.24, while Kuemper had a goals against average of 2.33 the next season in 55 starts.

Both goaltenders have served as the Coyotes starting goaltender for a season in their career, and maybe the ‘Yotes do not plan to carry the two stars going into next season. Luckily they have one goalie on their roster who can step into a backup role.

Eric Comrie

Eric Comrie has not played a lot of time in the NHL. The young goaltender certainly has a lot more to prove and could step into a backup role with the Coyotes.

However if Comrie is given the backup position behind either Raanta or Kuemper the Coyotes are just one injury away from making Comrie your starting goaltender, and Adin Hill your backup.

Obviously the Coyotes do not want to have that situation come to light so moving forward it will be interesting to see what happens to Comrie. Since being claimed by the Coyotes there has been no news about Comrie from the team.

We won’t know until later this season what the Coyotes plan to do with their goalies in the net, but we do know that all 3 of them are great goaltenders.