Free Agent Roundup: Mathieu Garon
by Lavender on Jun 18, 2009 8:00 AM EDT
in Pittsburgh Penguins free agents
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For some of you who joined PensBurgh during the Stanley Cup Finals, you may only know Mathieu Garon as the mystery man who was put in net during Game 5 against the Detroit Red Wings. While being a back-up goalie to the likes of Marc-Andre Fleury can limit playing time, it's vital to have a quality netminder waiting in the wings to give your work horse a breather. The Pittsburgh Penguins used two other goalies who aren't named Fleury in their Stanley Cup season of 2008/09.
John Curry, an undrafted free agent signed by the Penguins in 2007, played three games for the Penguins, posting a 2-1-0 record with a .913 SV%. Curry, for the majority of his Penguins career, has been in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with the Baby Pens of the AHL. In the past two years in the AHL, he's played 90 games, posted a record of 57-27-4, had seven shutouts, and has held a consistent SV% of .915 and .916 over the last two seasons.
The man who filled in for Fleury the most in the 2008/09 season was Dany Sabourin, who went 10-9-1 with a .904 SV% in 24 games played. However, Sabourin, along with AHL forward Ryan Stone, were traded for goaltender Mathieu Garon of the Edmonton Oliers mid-January.
Garon, a native of Quebec, was rarely used with the Pens in his stint with the team, only four games (five if you include the appearance in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals). While this doesn't give you much to depict him as a Penguin, he is a veteran of the NHL. He has played 204 games in his career with the Montreal Canadiens, Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oliers, and Pittsburgh Penguins. Plus, Mathieu Garon is still fresh from a great 2007/08 campaign where he played 47 games, went 26-18-1 for the Oilers, and posted a .913 SV%.
While you can ponder giving the reigns to our up and coming Curry, you can never underestimate how valuable it is having an experienced back up to use when you need to rest, and/or bench a starter. Fleury is our guy, but he can't play them all. It's up to Ray Shero to figure out how to handle the back up role, and, if it were me, I think experience is a valuable commodity to have, and one the Penguins should consider in the offseason. Whether that be Mathieu Garon or not, is yet to be decided.
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I like Garon...
but, in the age of the salary ap players like Garon beome sa_rafises. My letter see stopped working on my ghetto _omputer! WTF!
Life is about one simple choice, get busy living or get busy dying
i like Garon...for a certain price
If he wants to come back at 750 – 850k then great. Otherwise we need to see if any other veteran FA goalie will play for that price and a chance for a championship, if not, it’s John Curry time.
Garon is more reliable than Sabourin was….And though Curry has potential, he’s still an unknown at the NHL level.
I think I’m with Aron — if Garon is interested in coming back for $750k in a clear backup role (where Fleury’s gonna play 60-65 games if healthy(, bring him back. If he’s looking for more money or the chance to play more, wave goodbye Garon.
And, again while I do like Curry the Pens do need a veteran goalie as a #2 or #3 in the organization just in case Fleury misses time with injury for the third year in a row.
Keep Garon, make a deal!
Hopefully they’ll be able to fit Garon in under the Cap. Who know what kind of cost that will be as the Pens have other priority re-signs. Garon is a pretty solid GT, saw him play quite a bit with the LA Kings and he did well especially considering the D (or lack thereof) in LA. Good stats last season with the Oilers, would definitely be a better choice (On paper) as a backup than young John Curry at least for this season. Of course the detroit redwings were a “Better team” on paper too, so you see what that all means. I trust the Front Office will make the right judgement call. If they go with Curry and he fails, they can send him back down and trade for a decent Goalie mid season. Might end up being costly but either way is a risk.
i completely agree...
i never saw him play in LA, but i did see him play in Edmonton. An he played fantastic. Posting a great win record and winning 13 shoot-outs for the oilers in one season, which i think is fantastic. The only thing is he has to sign for like 600K to even be considered by Shero, and i don’t see that happening. Saying that though I’m one the fence about signing him either way. But like you said, if Curry has trouble you would want to have a experienced back-up to lean on.
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Cheers /races back to suitcase, packs rapidly, heads to Ohio of all places.
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I’m a fan of John Curry but still skeptical about how he will perform on the NHL level. If MAF goes down at any point, I don’t know how i feel having Curry as the #1 guy while that goes down. I wonder if other FA goaltenders may fill Garon’s void for $500K – $600K, but as AronV mentioned above, I’d take it for $750ish.
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I think the Garon signing will depend heavily on how much is left over from the situations with Scuds/Tenk/Guerin and if Sykora (doesn’t sound like it anymore if he is complaining about Ice time…really? Ice time? how bout you stay healthy, then we can talk) and/or Satan want to take a discount to stay.
Garon is nice to have as insurance, but it would look pretty silly if MAF is healthy all year, plays his 60-65 games and we have 750-1 mil on the books for a back-up goalie…I say either give Curry a shot or find a cheap FA.
"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action." - George Washington
by Hockey Beard in SLC on Jun 18, 2009 2:58 PM EDT up reply actions
I’m fine with Garon if he signs for about half what he made this season. Otherwise, maybe the team would be best off looking toward someone like Brian Boucher—a guy young enough to still be solid, but old enough to recognize that he’s not a starting goalie anymore.
Pittsburgh Black And Gold -- So new, it still smells like paint!
Toronto has a plethora of goaltenders and will likely send a few to market. Perhaps the Pens could grab one from there.
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The only one i would think about in that group would be Pogge (unless you want the 42 yr old Joseph…lol), though I don’t see him being any different from Curry.
The rest (Kolzig and Gerber) would command more money than Garon…
"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action." - George Washington
by Hockey Beard in SLC on Jun 18, 2009 3:02 PM EDT up reply actions
Offer 600k to Garon, take it or leave it, and let it spread to the FA goalies out there. If Garon doesn’t want it and a decent alternative shows up from FA that will take it, it becomes a win-win either way. If no one else will take that much to be on the stanley Cup Champs then Curry will get his shot.
Once the season starts, Shero will know what is left under the cap to make some moves, if need be, during the season.
I’m gonna say John Curry all the way. Dress him from day one. Start him on day two or three. Let him know that the job is Fleury’s, but that he’s going to get his ice-time. The only thing I worry about is his being shelved. He needs to get his starts. I would have no problem with him getting a start every 4-5 games, and if he looks shaky, send him back down to WB where he can get regular time, and bring in an experienced free agent veteran. With the youth movement in place, I feel it is time for Curry to have a spot on an NHL roster. Don’t forget, MAF is 24 years old and already on the verge of veterancy in terms of goalmanship. I thought Curry was fantastic in his limited role this past season.
-David
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by pascaldupweevil on Jun 20, 2009 2:45 AM EDT reply actions
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