The Backup Goalie Problem NHL Teams Don't See Coming

There’s something about the Ottawa Senators’ goaltending situation that makes me think of a problem NHL teams tend to discover only after it’s too late. Everybody knows the starter matters. Everybody knows you need a good goalie if you want to go anywhere in the playoffs. But the backup? That position can sit quietly in the background until suddenly your starter misses three weeks and everybody starts wondering what happened.

Last season, Ingram showed up at the perfect time for the Oilers.

That’s why I find the Connor Ingram situation interesting. Ottawa already has Linus Ullmark, and if Ullmark gets back closer to the goalie he was before last season, the Senators should be in pretty good shape. But then there is Samuel Ersson, who is being asked to handle the backup job after some pretty shaky numbers in Philadelphia. That might work out. Goalies sometimes change teams and suddenly find a better environment. But it is still a gamble, particularly for a team that is trying to get through the first round of the playoffs for the first time in a long while.

And this is where I think the Edmonton Oilers connection is worth remembering. Edmonton has seen firsthand how important it can be to have a goalie who can come in and give a team something when the starter isn't available. Connor Ingram spent much of last season with the Oilers, and he showed enough to suggest he can be a useful NHL goaltender. His career .901 save percentage isn't spectacular, but that's not really the standard for a backup. If he can give you close to league-average goaltending for 20 or 25 games, keep the team in games and give the starter a chance to breathe, you've probably done pretty well.

A good backup goalie like Ingram can be gold for a team hoping to win.

That's the part that gets lost sometimes. Teams don't necessarily need two starting goalies. They need one very good starter and somebody behind him who won't turn every night off into an adventure. And if that second goalie can push the starter a little bit in training camp, even better. A PTO for Ingram makes sense for Ottawa (or another Canadian team) for exactly that reason. It costs very little, creates some competition and gives the Senators another option if Ersson doesn't look like the answer.

Maybe Ersson turns things around, and everybody forgets about Ingram by October. That certainly could happen. But I like the idea of making the decision harder rather than easier. Ottawa is trying to move from being a playoff team to being a team that actually wins a playoff round. At that stage, you don't want to find out in December that your goaltending depth isn't good enough.

Somewhere, Ottawa or not, there’s a job waiting for Ingram.

Sometimes the smartest move a team can make is the one that gives it another option before it needs one. And that's what makes Ingram's situation worth watching.