Here's how much Flames goalies have cost per save this season
The good news for Calgary Flames goalies?
Backup Dan Vladar is giving them great value on the cost-per-save front.
The bad news?
Starter Jacob Markstrom isn’t.
Markstrom, who is in the third season of a six-year, $36 million contract with an annual average value of $6 million, ranks 66th out of 77 qualifying goaltenders in save versus price efficiency at $6,912 per stop, according to CapFriendly’s calculation, with 868 stops in 2,209:12 crease time on the campaign.
The 33-year-old has struggled mightily to stop the puck this season, sporting a 2.93 goals-against average and .889 save percentage through 38 appearances over the course of the 2022-23 schedule.
Those figures are his worst since the 2014-15 season when he posted a 3.09 goals-against average and .879 save percentage in just a three-game stint as a member of the Vancouver Canucks.
Vladar, however, has been one of the NHL’s most efficient stoppers.
The 25-year-old, on a value contract at $750,000 before a two-year, $4.4 million contract kicks in next season, has been a bargain as the eighth-most efficient stopper at just $1,425 per save. He’s posted a 2.85 goals-against average and .899 save percentage over 22 appearances that include 528 saves in 1,285 total minutes of action.
Neither goaltender, however, has been a pure solution to Calgary’s crease conundrum.
Though Vladar tied a franchise record by earning at least a point in 13 straight games, where he went 10-0-3,Ā earlier this season, his stat line hasn’t read as a slam-dunk starter over Markstrom.
In fact, some figures paint the latter as the more effective goaltender this season, according to MoneyPuck.
Markstrom has -0.6 goals saved above expected this season, while Vladar sports a -4.6 figure — 14th-worst in the NHL. Markstrom has seen nearly double the ice time, and has 38 starts to Vladar’s 20. Though Markstrom’s metric per 60 minutes ranks 60th in the NHL at -0.016, Vladar’s slots 70th at -0.215, too.
Markstrom’s save percentage above expected — dead even at 0.000 — also trumps that of the backup with Vladar at -0.004, as does his wins-above-replacement at -0.02 versus Vladar’s -0.22.
Natural Stat Trick paints an opposite picture, however, with Vladar registering a 2.60 goals-saved-above-average at all strengths and Markstrom at -2.60 in a direct comparison of each other. League-wide, Markstrom registers a -15.80 mark on an expected-goals-against of 99.65 versus an actual number of 108, with Vladar a tidier -5.20 and an expected-goals-against of 57.2 versus 61 actual-goals-against.
Neither is ideal, though, ranking in the bottom 20 of the league and well off the league-pacing performance of Linus Ullmark’s 33.38 figure.
Collectively, the Flames sit 29th in save percentage at 5-on-5 with a miserable .902 mark, and 21st with a high-danger save percentage of .826.
Suffice it to say, all of the above needs to improve for the Flames to save their shot at the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
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