The Chicago Blackhawks will get a boost this season with Connor Bedard and free-agent signings. What will this mean for their plan to eventually be competitive again? Petr Mrazek [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAxNDIxMDYzODMyMjE3NTcz/usatsi_21523909_168400847_lowres.jpg] Petr Mrazek The NHL’s new regular season is two days away, and THN.com is continuing to rank the depth of the league’s 32 teams. Last Wednesday, we analyzed the NHL’s top-five teams in terms of their top-six forward groups [https://thehockeynews.com/news/top-five-nhl-teams-with-the-best-top-six-forward-groups-entering-2023-24]. Thursday, we labelled the five teams with the worst top-six forward groups [https://thehockeynews.com/news/top-five-nhl-teams-with-the-weakest-top-six-forward-groups-entering-2023-24]. Friday, we rated the five best defense corps in the NHL [https://thehockeynews.com/news/top-five-nhl-teams-with-the-best-top-six-defensemen-entering-2023-24]. Saturday, we identified the five worst defense corps in the league [https://thehockeynews.com/news/top-five-nhl-teams-with-the-weakest-top-six-defense-group-entering-2023-24]. Sunday, we looked at the five teams with the best goaltending tandems [https://thehockeynews.com/news/top-five-nhl-goaltending-tandems-entering-2023-24]. Today, we’re closing out this process with a look at the five teams with the weakest and least-proven goaltending duos. In reverse order, here are this writer’s choices for the five teams with the least impressive netminding: 5. SEATTLE KRAKEN Top two goalies: Philipp Grubauer, Joey Daccord The Kraken quickly rose through the ranks of the NHL, but they’ve done so almost in spite of their subpar goaltending. Grubauer hasn’t averaged better than a .895 save percentage in his two years with Seattle, and his goals-against average of 3.00 in that span also speaks to his non-elite reputation. At 31, he’s got time left to return to his numbers as a Colorado Avalanche, but as it currently stands, Grubauer isn’t putting up even average numbers, let alone elite ones. Meanwhile, at backup, the 27-year-old Daccord had a decent season in the AHL in 2022-23, but he has only 19 games of NHL experience under his belt, and the Kraken’s mediocre defense isn’t likely to protect him and Grubauer. There is lots to like about Seattle, but their netminding simply isn’t their strength. Drafts and trades may change that mix at some point, but for now, they’re not among the league’s most impressive goalie tandems. 4. ARIZONA COYOTES Top two goalies: Karel Vejmelka, Connor Ingram The fully rebuilding Coyotes have some excellent, young up-and-comers at forward and on defense, but between the pipes, their depth and overall talent grade is lacking. As the de facto starter, the 27-year-old Vejmelka has shown stretches of solid play, but the cold, hard facts are that he’s posted an .899 SP in 102 career NHL games. As for the 26-year-old Ingram, he has just 30 NHL games to his credit, and he hasn’t bowled over the hockey world in that small sample size, posting a 3.37 GAA and .907 SP in 27 appearances in 2022-23. Yotes GM Bill Armstrong slightly improved his team’s defense corps this summer, but Arizona has nowhere near enough NHL-caliber talent on it to shield Vejmelka and Ingram night in and night out. For that reason, it’s overly optimistic to expect the duo to thrive this season. The Coyotes will be better than last season, but that’s damning them with faint praise. They’re almost still going to continue to struggle with their competitive consistency, and their goaltenders aren’t going to be immune from that reality. 3. SAN JOSE SHARKS Top two goalies: Kaapo Kahkonen, Mackenzie Blackwood The Sharks made our top five worst groups list with their forwards and their defensemen, and they cap things off with a mention in the middle of this list. San Jose GM Mike Grier has embarked on a basement-to-roof rebuild, and that has affected every position, including the goaltender position. As a result, their top goalie is 27-year-old Kahkonen, who played a career-best 37 games last season and posted a not-good-at-all .883 SP and 3.85 GAA. The backup is 26-year-old Blackwood, who signed as a UFA this summer after putting up disappointing individual stats (including a .893 SP and 3.20 GAA) on a good New Jersey Devils squad in 2022-23. Sorry, Sharks fans, but that’s not encouraging for the season ahead. Kahkonen is in the last season of his current contract, while Blackwood is signed through the 2024-25 campaign. By that time, San Jose’s netminding picture may have changed drastically. And this season isn’t going to be kind to Sharks goalies. It’s a painful but necessary time for the franchise, and nowhere will they feel it most than in net. 2. COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS Top two goalies: Elvis Merzlikins, Daniil Tarasov/Spencer Martin The 2023 off-season saw the Blue Jackets make a slew of veteran additions to the roster, but one of their final moves before the season began was bringing in veteran goalie Spencer Martin, and we’ll get to him in a second. Before we do, let’s establish who is in Columbus’ net this year: first, there’s starter Merzlikins, who posted career-worst numbers (including an .876 SP and 4.23 GAA) in 30 appearances. Their backup would’ve been (and still may be) 24-year-old Tarasov (.892 SP, 3.91 GAA), had they not made a waiver claim on Martin. But there’s a reason the Vancouver Canucks waived Martin: he had an abysmal .871 SP and 3.99 GAA in 29 appearances last year. The 28-year-old Martin has only 38 career games played at the NHL level, but the Blue Jackets are hoping he performs better with a more robust defense in front of him than he had in Vancouver, but we’re not sure about that, either. Stranger things have happened in hockey’s top league than the Jackets getting elite play out of Merzlikins/Tarasov/Martin, but we’re far from confident this will be a positive year from them in net. 1. CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS Top two goalies: Petr Mrazek, Arvid Soderblom The Blackhawks are focusing all of their pre-season marketing attention on superstar-in-the-making forward Connor Bedard, but their defense remains paper-thin and far from a defensively adept group, and worse yet is their situation in goal. They’re a team that’s still locked into tank mode, which is why having 31-year-old Mrazek as their starter hasn’t caused civic disruption from their fan base. Mrazek put up terrible numbers (.894 SP, and a career-worst 3.66 GAA) in 39 appearances, but he’s the most NHL-tested goalie Chicago has right now. Behind Mrazek is 24-year-old Soderblom, who has just 18 NHL games of experience, and similarly bad individual results (.894 SP, 3.45 GAA) in 15 games last season. You can’t rely on a youngster like that to grab the reins and steal games for a Hawks team that has one of the worst defense corps (and forward group, for that matter) in hockey’s top league. Mrazek is also expected to struggle to stay healthy, and considering that’s precisely what’s happened to him in recent years, you can understand why people feel that way. And if either Mrazek and Soderblom are injured, the next-best option for them is 24-year-old Jaxon Stauber, who has six games of NHL experience, and 23 games of pro hockey experience. It could get real ugly in net for Chicago this year, and the Blackhawks will probably be one of the league’s worst teams in part because of their goalies.
