2009-10 Rink Wrap: Michal Neuvirth

6’4", 217? Geez, he grew…

…or is he channeling Shaone?

Looks like he got a raise, too!

Neuvy did way better in his time in DC than I expected. I guess this coming season, a Varly/Neuvy combo depends on the eternal “better to sit or play” question and the health of whoever seizes the job in training camp.

Whether it’s a 1A and 1B tag-teaming deal or one of the two distances himself as a clear #1, I think Neuvy and Varly (and Hotlby if one of them gets injured) can handle the goaltending duties for next year.

So, by my math, Neuvi’s 2009-10 totals to date are 35-11/2.37/.917. Not bad at all.

He was solid—didn’t matter if in Hershey or in the NHL. His competitiveness that’s come to the forefront impresses me as of late.

I didn’t expect him to be as good as Varly, but he’s right there at the moment. Reliable I suppose it what jumps out at me. Varly may be explosive, but each night I feel like (given some practice time beforehand) I know what we’ll get out of Neuvirth.

By the way, article title has the English, not Czech, spelling of “Michael” ;)

"He came to me [before the series] and said, ‘Bernier is getting a lot of press.’ I said, ‘Yeah, yeah,’ and then he goes, ‘but I’m better,’ " Hershey coach Mark French said. "It was with a very straight face and he meant no disservice, but I think he took this series as a personal challenge.

"It was a great series, great series for the fans and I am very happy to beat Bernier," Neuvirth said. "He is a top-class goaltender that is going to be in the NHL and I am happy I proved I am better in the playoffs than him."

I have to think quietly (or maybe less quiet now) the brass has to be giving Neuvy a real hard look as the possible future of this team. Steady and less injury-prone is much more attractive than exciting and dynamic when healthy in the cap-world we live in. The interesting question is this: Can a team with dead-serious cup ambitions really go with two rookies (for all intents and purposes) and expect to make a run? If not (as I believe), who do you pick? Neuvy has done everything he has been asked, and Varly has gotten his chances and had mixed results. Love to see Michael get an extended look this season in DC.

Hey, why not? What’s the difference if the Caps win 44 games instead of 54? It’s not as if that whole home ice, President’s Cup thing worked out for you, did it? Besides, if one tanks, you can probably get a veteran backup view waivers.

Signed,
M. Leighton

7 – for some reason, i didnt feel as confident w/ neuvy in net as i did w/ varly. perhaps its because of varly’s performance in the playoffs the year before. however, there is no doubt neuvy performed well when called upon this year. its understandable that he would have a few hiccups, especially early given his age.

i think his stock was raised in my mind by allowing junior seau to give him a ride to his car after he learned he was being sent down at the beginning of the season. i’m sure he didnt know junior seau from a junior mint, but he was a good sport anyway.

i feel confident with those two in the nets next year. i think we will do fine with either of them between the pipes. come deadline time, if they dont seem to be cutting it, then there may be options to bring in another guy. dont think its worth blowing cap money on a veteran guy at this point.

Another interesting fact about Neuvirth. He’s pulled his own version of the “Dryden.” Last year’’s playoff MVP in the Calder Cup tournament. This year, he is technically an AHL rookie.

Also noteworthy – Neuvi got a bit of the Alzner treatment this season and responded similarly (i.e. with strong play and a positive attitude).

In addition, Neuvirth’s numbers are skewed a bit by the competition he faced – he was 5-1-0/2.93/.918 against non-playoff teams and just 4-3-0/2.57/.907 against teams that took the ice in the postseason.

Are you suggesting that the team tightened up and played better defense against playoff teams and still came out losing more than when we did not against the others? That’s how I view fewer goals against average but a worse save percentage. (Rhetoric. Could mean better shooters, could mean the shots were better set up and from more prime locations.)

I gave Neuvirth a 6. I expected him to be AHL solid, and look decent in the NHL (hoped he’d be decent enough to displace Theo). He was a little better than decent, and he should take a 1B role next year.

Personally, I think the kid is better than Varlamov. Talent wise, they’re probably around the same place, but all Neuvirth has done since getting to North America is stop pucks and win games. I don’t know whether my opinion is based on his attitude, the fact that he’s an underdog, some “reactionary vs positional” argument," or just that as a Caps fan I feel more comfortable having a Central European between the pipes, but something has had me in the Neuvirth bandwagon lobby for a while.

Heading in to next season with Neuvirth and Semyon Varlamov as the team’s top two options between the pipes would certainly save the team money, but it’s not without risk. Has Neuvirth performed well enough that the Capitals should be comfortable going forward with their two youngsters in net to start the 2010-11 campaign?

Yeah. Not only comfortable, but I would say confident. I’m actually more confident about long term and mid term goaltending than I am with any position. I just hope it’s a fair and unbiased audition between the two for the starting job.

Yep, that’s low. I really expected him to take the starting goalie job away from Theo and Varlamov and be #1 in the playoffs. But he’s still in Hershey. Maybe my expectations were FUBAR, but, as instructed, I am responding based on MY expectations and assessment of his potential.

I am probably in the minority but I think, both due to fewer injuries and more steadiness, he has more career potential than Varlamov. I expect him to be named #1 or to be traded before the beginning of the season. And really, it’s the same with Varlamov, be #1 or be sent away. Along with one of these trades, I expect to see a serviceable veteran backup signed for <$2M.

coulda been an 8, but he but he didn’t really play enough games (39 combined) for me to go that high. He performed better (and more) at the NHL level than I expected. About at (or slightly below) expectations at the AHL level, if only because he played just 22 games.

The Discussion: Heading in to next season with Neuvirth and Semyon Varlamov as the team’s top two options between the pipes would certainly save the team money, but it’s not without risk. Has Neuvirth performed well enough that the Capitals should be comfortable going forward with their two youngsters in net to start the 2010-11 campaign?

I absolutely believe the caps should feel comfortable moving forward with the 2 young goalies in net. In fact, I think it would be doing Neuvy a disservice to bring in a vet and relegate him to the “A” once again. At least let him start the season up here with Varly…if there are issues, another goalie can be brought in as the season progresses.

He impressed me greatly though I was soured on going up to 8 — he’s likely going to be about as good as he ever gets. He has all the mental talent in the world, but his raw talent won’t be much improved, if ever. We should expect a .910 sv% next year, easily, but it’s going to be a monster year for him to start getting shutouts and pushing the sv% up toward .92 and beyond.

For a 10 next year? Varlamov is the kid to be beat in net, if Neuvirth winds up in net not due to Varlamov regressing/injury. Pretty simple. I’m comfortable with both of these guys going into next year without any veteran help so I want to see who can backstop the team.

I figured he would contend for a job and get a few games when someone got hurt, and that he’d do well with it in some games, and not so well in others. I figured it’d be about a 50-50 split in good/bad games, and he came out ahead on split, so I bumped him up.

He definitely will be given a shot to win the top job in camp this fall, but if he is the second best goalie there, then there is no reason for him to not be in Hershey. I don’t want a 22 year old goalie watching someone else on the bench for 55 games. If Varly wins the starting job, then Neuvy goes to Hershey. If Neuvy wins it, then Varly can start at Hershey. Having two quality goaltenders in their prime is one thing, having them in their youth means one has to be in the AHL, so he can get playing time.

And he gets docked a quarter point for looking like Bjork. He’d get a 1 if he dressed like Bjork…

Gave him a 7. Lots of promise and several great starts, plus more action in the NHL than I expected at the beginning of the year.

But he never did fully take the #1 job away from Jose, and that’s what’s keeping him from a higher score.

I’m loving the idea of Neuvy and Varly dueling their way through the season while Holtby gets the bulk of the load in Hershey.

Here’s hoping we get the Carey/Kolzig decision right (or to be more historically accurate, let’s hope the GM who trades for one gets his decision horribly wrong) on these two though, because it’s obvious that only one is going to stay here long term.

A little better than I expected; that key stat pretty much singlehandedly earns him the extra point. I hope we start next year with him in DC, he’s earned a chance to show what he can do in the NHL over extended time. My bigger concern with starting two goalies is Varlamov. If he can’t stay healthy, then we either need to sign a veteran mid-season or bring up Holtby. I could definitely see Neuvirth passing Varlamov by next year’s playoffs, especially if continues to stay healthier than Varlamov.

I had expected Varly and Neuvy to be competing for the top goalie this past year, but Theo’s great run during the second half of the season added a glitch in the plan. While Neuvy was here (after his not-so-great start against the Canadian teams), he was pretty solid and the team seemed to respond for him. He got an extra point from me for his dominance in the AHL.

Looking at all the young goalies that have been quite successful in this year’s playoffs, I have no qualms with going with a Varla-virth tandem for next year. Irbe can give them any “veteran mentoring” should they need it. If injury were to take either, an aquisition can be made before the trade deadline, allowing GMGM more money this summer to pick up a 2C or D.

My expectations were that he’d get very little to no NHL time as I thought this was the year Varly would take over as the clear #1 and Theo the clear backup. But, hey played more and better than I expected and looks like he could end up being the better of two (three?) young goalies – especially if Varly can’t stay healthy.

Do I have faith in the two young guys for next year…. Makes me very nervous, but it seems like the only realistic cap (salary) option since I can’t imagine you could get a veteran backup to sign a two-way contract (which is the only way I’d tske one over the young guy options).

I think he’s the cats pajamas, and I have no problem with going with Varlamov and Neuvirth as long as the blueline is shored up. I really, really like this kid, and he’s gotten the short end of the stick, because everyone is touting Varlamov as the next starter, a little too quickly. If given a fair chance, I think he might be able to take the #1 spot, and I think he believes it as well.

Call him up next year. Let Varly and Neuvy share the job between the pipes unless one takes off and forces you to start him even more. And even then, it should be no more than 2/3 and 1/3 as far as how the starts should be divided. Neuvy is ready, and Valry has been good when not injured. He had a solid postseason again…this season’s loss definately wasn’t on him. I’d be confident with Varly and anyone going into the postseason. The fact that the “anyone” can be Neuvy, who may end up being better than Varly down the road, and he’d be getting a real NHL taste, well, that’s just awesome.

For this season, he was good in his time up here, and has been good as expected in the AHL. Maybe give him a 7, slightly above expectations for his time here. Although, it’s tough to give an accurate grade on only a handful of starts.

He gave us more in his starts than I had anticipated. I figured going into the season he’d get into 10 games, and I had hoped we’d be .500 in those games, and see his save % over .900. His style seems to fit this team well, as he eats up rebounds very well and he stays calm. I certainly hope he and Varly are 1-2 next year (in no particular order) – I think it fits economically, and they each need legitimate seaoning in the NHL (nothing more the AHL really offers them at this point).

The Vote: Rate Neuvirth below on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best) based on his performance relative to his potential and your expectations for the season – if he had the best year you could have imagined him having, give him a 10; if he more or less played as you expected he would, give him a 5 or a 6; if he had the worst year you could have imagined him having, give him a 1.

I thought he was going to get some time, but thanks to Varly’s injury, he got quite a bit of NHL experience under his belt. While he did look a little shaky in some of his starts, remember, he only just turned 22 years of age. Give him some more AHL experience right now in the post season, then a few weeks of training camp in the bigs and he’ll be rock solid.

That being said, I would not be unhurt if we could, for substantially less money, resign JT60 for another year or two, or perhaps another FA goalie for reasonable money.

His birthday is March 23, 1988. My birthday is March 24, 1988. Therefore I award him a 10.

7 in reality; I remember being particularly wowed by a game in Atlanta. I also remember thinking how much smaller he looked than Varly, but the vitals don’t bear that out. .914 would have been 15th in the NHL this season among qualified goalies; among goalies that started at least 60 games, it would have been 10th. I think a 10 would have been claiming the starting spot, right? He might do that soon enough.

I expected him to see some games up here and play well. He played more than just a few games and other than a few shaky starts, he was pretty good and I liked what I saw. I also feel he’s going to end up with a better career than Varly, as a few others here have mentioned. My qualm with going Varly/Neuvy next year is actually the Varly half and not the Neuvy half, believe it or not. Neuvy looked solid and has earned some time in D.C. in my opinion. However, going Neuvy/Holtby for half the season can’t be ruled out as a possibility since Varly is so injury prone. That is something I would not be comfortable with. So if JT60 or another veteran backup signed for another year at a much lower price, I wouldn’t be opposed. However, then we’d have the problem of leaving either Neuvy or Varly in Hershey when they are past that stage.

This kind of feels like Price Vs Halak South, with 1/3 the drama. Analogy might not be exact, but these two are going to need to duke it out next year, and Im comfortable with that… and would be very happy if Neuvy turned out to be Halak

First of all, he gets an 8 for stepping up and putting up impressive numbers in his limited NHL starts. That definitely exceeded my expectations of him.

Both him and Varly need to be up in DC next year, full-time.

My prediction: This guy is the Caps goalie of the future. His style is more efficient, less prone to injury and does not overly rely on his athleticism. Because of that this kid can consistently play 50+ games/season. He’ll need 2-3 more years to fully develop though. In the meantime there’s Varly, who I think is immensely talented but too injury-prone, erratic and likely to be “solved” when opponents start seeing him more frequently. Reminds me of Carey and Kolzig. Carey was flashy and athletic, like Varly. But once opponents figured out Carey couldn’t move laterally, his career took a nosedive. Kolzig was technical and never in the spotlight, like Neuvy. Olie was an afterthought in ‘95 and ’96 before exploding on the scene in ’97. I see the same development curve for Neuvirth. (Don’t prove me wrong, kid!)

I would, considering that we need a starting goalie this year and Varly’s cap hit is low.

Didn’t rate him cuz wasn’t paying that much attention to him this year but after Varly’s negativity about Brooks at the Worlds I hope Neuvy gives him a run for the starting spot next year. That negativity left a bad taste and I think Varly needs to learn some humility.

I expected him to be great in the AHL and be solid in limited time in DC, and that’s what he was.

I have no problem going into the season with a Neuvirth/Varlamov tandem. Either one is capable of getting hot in the playoffs, and really that’s all you need anymore to win a Cup. Plus, it’s getting close to time to shit or get off the pot with these two guys so we should see what we’ve got with them. I don’t see much benefit in keeping one in the AHL while at the same time keeping Holtby in a back up role.

he’s a good goalie, can’t trade either Varly or Neuv’….Varly needs to stay healthy. dosent appear to be durable in an 80 game regular season.