antti raanta

Photo Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

It would probably have been better timed to publish this post after Aanti Raanta stonewalled the Caps last week. Raanta was of course, in the middle of some solid form while subbing for Henrik Lundqvist. While Raanta was certainly shaky in the (ugly) loss to the Isles on Sunday night he wasn’t the main problem. You could have put any goaltender in front of that defensive performance on Sunday and very few would have come out on the right side of the win/loss column.

The fact is though; the Rangers have found another solid keeper in Raanta. They have developed another NHL quality goaltender and critically, have found someone they should be able to keep under relative cost control in the short term (despite his pending status this summer). Raanta should be a strong backup for the Rangers while the prospects develop out of the New York spotlight and while Lundqvist continues to do his thing.

Raanta is a relative bargain. While carrying a 750k cap hit (800k actually salary) Raanta provides the Rangers solid value. Assume he gets a modest (but deserved) raise over the summer, the pending free agent can expect to get 1-1.2m for his next contact. That’s still a big raise. Raanta has been a solid (a word that I am purposely using a lot to describe Raanta) back-up and has put up, generally speaking, good numbers. The assumed financial commitment for Raanta beyond this season will allow the Rangers to spend the precious cap space they do have elsewhere, all the while being confident they have a guy that can spell Lundqvist.

The Rangers have done well developing backup goaltenders in recent times, not least with Raanta’s predecessor Cam Talbot. Long gone are the days when the Rangers fanbase had to endure journeyman goaltenders such as Mike Dunham, Kevin Weekes and false dawns in kids such as Dan Blackburn. All those goalies’ were solid goaltenders (or prospects) but none were able to help contending clubs.

Can Raanta be a starter elsewhere? Can the Rangers develop him into another asset producing trade chip? Maybe, but right now Raanta is a critical piece to the Rangers roster, even allowing for the odd hiccup like Sunday. Raanta is easily (when health allows) a twenty-twenty five game starter.

Raanta often goes a long time between starts. Twice this season he has gone three+ weeks between starts and sure, on those occasions he lost both of those games, but he bounced back from those losses. Raanta has solid numbers in a backup capacity. In his fourteen starts this season, he has conceded two or less goals nine times – that’s pretty reliable. It’s reasonable to suggest that had the Rangers’ defense not been so horrendously inconsistent this year he’d have an even better record.

Magnus Hellberg and Mackenzie Skapski are not best suited for prolonged NHL stays and their long term futures are best served with a lot of game time in the minor leagues. The same goes for the kids, Halverson and Shestyorkin. The Rangers should definitely be looking to retain Raanta beyond this year. Benoit Allaire has proven he can positively influence Raanta’s game and, approaching his 27th birthday, Raanta has plenty of time on his side. He’s worth an investment.

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