The Edmonton Oilers will be turning to Laurent Brossoit tonight in Tampa Bay as they open up a back-to-back set in Florida. While the game is obviously important to the Oilers, many fans are likely overlooking the importance of this game to Brossoit.
Brossoit has one start with the Oilers this year, in which he won, but has three overall appearances on the season. In those games, he’s 1-0-0 with a 2.80 GAA and .919 SV%. Without a doubt, those are respectable backup numbers at the NHL level, clearly an improvement over Jonas Gustavsson earlier this season and even LB himself late last season.
That said, the sample size is extremely small and this may be Brossoit’s final start before the trade deadline, which occurs eight days from now. A poor start tonight by the young goaltender could push GM Peter Chiarelli to go out and acquire a veteran netminder between now and the deadline. This start means something to Brossoit.
His AHL number’s this season (9-8-0, 2.67 GAA, .908 SV%) don’t exactly inspire confidence that he can be an NHL netminder, but a closer look shows that the numbers are a little bit skewed.
Because he only appeared in 21 contests overall, a bad weekend can make an entire season look poor. That’s exactly what happened to LB in December. Outside of that hiccup, he has been the strong AHL goaltender that he has developed into over the last three seasons at that level.
His game against the Flames a few weeks back was solid. Brossoit surrendered three goals in the victory, but two of them were in garbage time and the netminder really can’t be faulted for any of them. Two of the goals that beat him were tipped past him while one came compliments of a breakaway.
My biggest concern with him that night, and really throughout his short NHL tenure over the last two seasons? His rebound control isn’t very good. Throughout his appearances, I’ve noticed a lot of second chance opportunities available to the opponent. While it hasn’t killed him this season, it was a big issue during his struggles a year ago.
Another issue I have with LB’s game is his positioning. While it isn’t like the flopping around we saw from Gustavsson earlier this year, I’ve noticed LB doesn’t square up as well as someone like Talbot does to the shooter and that he can be an adventure in the crease. I think that comes with the territory with athletic goalies, but it’s still of concern to me.
I like Brossoit, I feel that he has proven everything he can at the minor league levels and that if he is going to become an NHL’er, it has to happen now. I think starting him tonight is a good call and I think it’s smart that McLellan and Chiarelli will get another chance to see what they have on the roster.
With a solid start tonight, I think Brossoit will cement himself as the backup the rest of the season and take some pressure off of Peter Chiarelli as the deadline approaches. A poor start? Well that may force Chiarelli to think long and hard about acquiring a veteran to play behind Cam Talbot the rest of the way.
Jason Gregor already hinted at Chiarelli looking at a veteran here, and like Gregor I suspect if LB falters tonight that PC’s search will intensify. This is a big game for the Oilers tonight. I think it’s safe to say this is an even bigger game for Laurent Brossoit.
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