Dallas Stars Entering Kari Lehtonen Era
The Dallas Stars are preparing to enter their first season in seven years with someone other than Marty Turco standing in between the pipes.
The reality that Dallas is now entering the Kari Lehtonen era became official on Monday when long-time Stars netminder Turco, who was a free agent at the time, signed a one-year deal with the Chicago Blackhawks. The three-time NHL All Star goalie had spent his previous team years in the League with the Stars, but will now look to be a part of Chicago’s attempts at a Stanley Cup two-peat.
The Stars are by no means in a bad spot with Lehtonen in their No. 1 goalie slot. Additionally, the Stars have some good prospective depth with Andrew Raycroft expecting to battle Brent Krahn for the backup role to Lehtonen. The future looks even brighter, as the Stars have goalie prospect and 2010 NHL Entry Draft No. 11 pick Jack Campbell waiting in the wings and ready to develop into a starter within a reasonable time.
Dallas acquired Lehtonen from the Atlanta Thrashers on February 9th in exchange for defenseman Ivan Vishnevskiy and a fourth-round draft pick, which Atlanta later used on forward Ivan Telegin. The Stars inked Lehtonen to a three-year, $10.65 million deal on May 11th that all but solidified his position as the Stars’ goaltender of the future.
Lehtonen was selected No. 2 overall by the Thrashers in the 2002 Draft, but has struggled to develop into a dominant keeper due a multitude of injuries. However, Lehtonen has been training extremely hard this offseason in order to be in top form for his fresh start in Texas.
According to Lehtonen: "I have a lot to prove for myself and I want to get back to be a great goalie in this League. If I'm able to do that, I'm sure I'll help this club a lot."
Help is precisely what the Stars need when it comes to goaltending. Last season, Dallas finished an abysmal 23rd in the league with a collective 2.98 goals-against average. Turco was the main goalie through this span, though he did finish with a respectable 22-20-11, and a GAA of 2.72 and .913 save percentage. Lehtonen does not have too much immediate pressure on him, but must be able to perform better than this rather mediocre precedent.
The 26-year-old Finnish netminder missed the first half of last season with back surgery, but has shown himself able to fill Turco’s pads rather easily based on previous performances. Upon his return to the Thrashers, Lehtonen went 6-3-0 with a 2.44 GAA and .926 save percentage. After arriving in Dallas, he went 6-4-0 with a 2.81 GAA and .911 save percentage. This may not have been as good as Turco, but as he gets comfortable, Lehtonen should be able to put up better statistics.
Still, it is important to remember that Lehtonen is only 26-years-old and has a lot of potential to become an elite goalkeeper in the NHL.
Dave Wendell, the Atlanta GM who drafted Lehtonen noted: "You can look back over the last 20 years and talk about some of those goalies, like the [Dominik] Haseks and the [Ed] Belfours […] look at how long it took them to establish themselves as the clear No. 1 guy. Usually, you never worried about goalies until they were 26, 27-years-old but now, with the new NHL, it's much different. You have to bring them along a lot quicker and I think Kari has gotten as much experience under his belt as any 25-year-old player can get.”
With this experience and his new-found form, Lehtonen can help the Stars and prove himself to the many doubters. His main issue should not be skill, which he has plenty of, but just being able to stay healthy enough to showcase it.
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