When the off-season opened most Oilers fans thought a bigger name goalie would be coming through the door to help in-between the pipes. There were plenty of rumors, but nothing really got done on that front for one of those big names. Instead, GM Craig MacTavish settled for career back-up Jason Labarbera, a free agent coming from the Coyotes.
Most overlooked this signing, and it’s understandable why. That being said, a quick check of the stats and a little in-depth research shows that Jason Labarbera might not be who we thought he was. So just who is this 33 year-old journeyman?
Jason Labarbera is a decent goalie, and is poised to surprise some people this season when he gets into game action. He’s got a good range of skills, and has been a decent goalie when he’s gotten into game action the past few seasons. He’d been stuck behind Mike Smith and Ilya Bryzgalov in Phoenix, and before that was stuck behind Roberto Luongo in Vancouver, so he never got a fair shot to start at the NHL level these last few seasons.
He did start for the Kings for one season, and posted respectable numbers with a 17-23-2 record and a 3.00 GAA on a pitiful Kings squad. Looking deeper into those numbers, they aren’t bad when you factor everything in. The reason why he didn’t stick longer? Jonathan Quick ended up getting handed the keys.
Overall, Jason Labarbera is a goalie who has been pretty good the past few seasons and has some experience as a starting goalie at the NHL level. It’s tough to argue with that kind of signing to back-stop the young Devan Dubnyk.
Now from what I’ve just said above, you would think Labarbera is simply here for 20 games and some mop up duty, right? Well that might not be the case. Labarbera is a guy, in my mind, that can actually push Dubnyk. As I’ve said, his numbers the last few seasons indicate that he can play at this level and give his team a chance to win on any given night.
Jason consistently has been posting GAA’s in the two’s and a SV% somewhere around the .915 level the past few seasons. Those numbers could be better with a larger work role, and part of me believes he will get a larger role this year. In fact, I’d be shocked if he doesn’t start somewhere between 25-35 games.
One guy that keeps popping into my mind, and I know other blogs have mentioned this, is Dwayne Roloson. I don’t expect him to have the same level of success as Roli did in Edmonton, but I don’t think it is out of the realm of possibility that the Oilers might have a veteran backup goalie with the ability to be more than that.
IF, and I think it’s a big IF, Devan Dubnyk struggles this season, the Oilers could have the next late bloomer in net sitting on their roster. Jason Labarbera has something to prove, and might just have to perfect tool box to surprise some people.
He’s the perfect backup for a team like Edmonton, and his stats indicate that he could be more than that. Don’t sleep on Jason Labarbera this coming season.
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