When trading for goalies, fit can be paramount

VANCOUVER-- Finding a goaltender before the 2018 NHL Trade Deadline goes beyond one team having a need and another having an excess. Fit also matters.
That's not to say there are any definitive rules about how a certain style of goalie will fit behind a specific defensive system or style of play. There are few absolutes in goaltending, and goalies adjust their approach to fit different scenarios.

Three goaltenders have been traded this week. Petr Mrazek was sent to from the Detroit Red Wings to the Philadelphia Flyers for two draft picks Monday. The Arizona Coyotes acquired Darcy Kuemper from the Los Angeles Kings for backup goaltender Scott Wedgewood and forward Tobias Rieder on Wednesday.
More goalies could be traded before the deadline (Monday, 3 p.m. ET).
There are some trends and tendencies teams should keep in mind when exploring the goaltending market and trying to find the right fit.

"There is not always a good fit," said James Reimer, who is in his second season with the Florida Panthers. "If you're a good goalie, you can probably have success in any scenario, but just like any player there is a perfect scenario for you. There is a sweet spot."
Finding that sweet spot isn't always easy in a position with so many personal variables.
Reimer has firsthand experience with the adjustments goaltenders face after switching teams, especially on short notice following a move before the trade deadline. He was traded from the Toronto Maple Leafs to the San Jose Sharks before the 2016 deadline and quickly found himself needing to adjust his initial positioning with his new team.
"I played a touch deeper [in San Jose]," Reimer said. "In Toronto, I challenged hard but the way they played odd-man rushes and stuff was different in San Jose, so you had to stay a little deeper."
Reimer didn't have any problems making the adjustment, going 6-2-0 with three shutouts and a .938 save percentage in eight starts with the Sharks. He said it helped that he went to a tighter defensive team in San Jose, but it's not always easy to get comfortable behind a new system when so much of what a goalie does is dictated by what is happening around him.
"You are kind of letting the puck dictate what is happening, but at the same time you are still reading scenarios and how the team is playing them and how different guys have different tendencies," Reimer said. "There is usually a bit of a feeling-out period."

The fit between goalie and team plays a role in how long that feeling-out period lasts. According to goalies who have been through it, there are several possible factors. Some are easier to spot and quantify.
The number of shots and chances a team surrenders off the rush versus during end-zone play is one of the more obvious factors. Every goaltender in the NHL can defend each, but some prefer to play with a little more flow or backward skating in their game and may adjust more readily to an increase in rush chances. Others aren't as comfortable with extra movement and prefer a more passive, inside-out approach better suited to end-zone play.
"It's an adjustment," Minnesota Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk said before the 2017 deadline. "You play it a little differently, you are maybe not as far out or further out, but it's not easy."
Few goalies like odd-man rushes, but some handle them more easily than others because of their skill set.
The same can be said for a decreased workload.
Although fewer shots should, in theory, make life easier for a goalie, the reality is that some struggle when they are not busy enough.
In general, goalies with more movement and backward flow in their game tend to rely a little more on rhythm and timing and are better suited to regular starts and more shots when they do play.
"Some guys excel more when they are constantly facing 35-plus shots and have that rhythm," said Winnipeg Jets goalie Steve Mason, who had immediate success after being traded from the Columbus Blue Jackets to the Philadelphia Flyers before the deadline five years ago.

Similarly, all goaltenders rely on making reads, but to varying degrees. As Reimer said, the goal is to let the puck dictate what the goalie does, but a certain level of anticipation is required. Some just lean more heavily -- and earlier -- on predicting plays than others, and making the right reads is not just limited to anticipating what attacking players are trying to do. Goalies need to know what their team is trying to force opponents to do, what options teammates are responsible for taking away first and what types of chances that leaves for the goalie.
Understanding preferences of a new system is sometimes an easier adjustment than trusting new teammates to execute them consistently.
Mindset, opportunity and past trade experience can also be factors.
Dubnyk learned "to just play and not think I have to come in and be Superman" after struggling with his first trade from the Edmonton Oilers to the Nashville Predators in 2014, and it helped him succeed after being traded from the Coyotes to the Wild one year later.
Mason called his trade to Philadelphia a lifeline after four difficult seasons in Columbus, but he also said it's tough figuring out how all those factors will play out after a trade.
"Not every goalie can play for every team," Mason said.
A grasp of how the above factors affect the style and comfort level of a goaltender should help teams figure out which ones fit the best.