alex georgiev trade

The final player to receive a report card this year is Alex Georgiev. Georgiev burst onto the scene last season and earned the backup role. This year he was expected to take on an expanded backup role, with an aging Henrik Lundqvist needing rest.  He did just that, starting 30 games and appearing in 33, finishing with a record of 14-13-4 and a 2.91 GAA and .914 SV%. Pretty good considering the state of the defense and overall lack of quality of this past year’s club.

It wasn’t just all solid numbers for Georgiev, though. Georgiev really struggled out of the gate. He allowed seven goals in his first start and posted a sub-.900 SV% in eight of his first 12 starts. He spent a good amount of time in Hartford, mostly due to the schedule, and posted very mediocre numbers there too. In wasn’t until his January 6th shutout against Arizona that he started stringing together solid starts.

Using the same metrics (GSAA and GSAx) we used for Hank, Georgiev finished with a GSAA of 4.15 (25th) and GSAx of 7.22 (13th). These numbers, in addition to his slash lines, were significantly better than Hank’s. This takes into account quality of shots too, so the argument that he faces lesser competition isn’t there. Georgiev had a very good season.

In fact, Georgiev was third among backup goalies in GSAx. He’s earned more starts and, assuming the Rangers aren’t blown away with an offer, has earned a 50/50 split or possibly more for next season. Here’s a comparison of the two:

Both Georgiev and Hank faced equal workloads and quality, just Georgiev had better results. This isn’t to take away from Hank, it’s to illustrate how good Georgiev was this year, and how good he possibly can be with an actual team defense around him. There’s not much else to say about Georgiev except he had a great year. He likely isn’t destined to be the future Rangers’ goaltender with Igor Shestyorkin waiting in the wings, though.  The Rangers have a few difficult decisions to make in net coming up.

Grade: A-

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