Looking at the Upcoming UDFA Goalie Group

I've been intending to write a post about the upcoming undrafted free agents (UDFA) coming out of the NCAA and CHL over the next few weeks but decided that my time would be best served to just focus on the goaltenders. This is for a number of reasons. First, the Devils are looking at a logjam of skaters available for Albany and the ECHL next year. By my unofficial count, here is a breakdown of players that could be available for those teams:

• Coming off of AHL Deals (Terms Unknown): Kelly, McKelvie, K. Zajac, McPherson, Demkov

• RFA's: Gelinas, Larsson, Burlon, Wohlberg, Timmins, Tedenby, Boychuk, Clermont, Young, Kinkaid, Pesonen

• UFA's: Urbom, Hoeffel, Janssen, Pelley, Sislo

• Under Contract: Merrill, Matteau, Boucher, Hrabarenka, Severson, Wedgewood, Scarlett, Helgeson, Whitney, Sestito, D. Zajac

• Sign or Lose Rights: Rodwell, Gedig, Faust, Johnson, Thomson, Black, Bell, Gavrus

• Could Turn Pro Early: Coleman

I plan on going into more detail on all of that in a later post, but the fact remains that there is no shortage of skaters available even with the Devils not re-signing all of their players and not signing all of the available prospects to retain rights. Obviously a decent number of those guys will not be retained.

The second and most important reason I wanted to take a look at the UDFA G crop for this spring was the lack of performance by Wedgewood and Clermont this year and the lack of depth as Anthony Brodeur isn't really a prospect with NHL potential. As of 3/11/14 here is what Wedgewood and Clermont have done this season and in their short pro careers:

• Wedgewood 2013-14 (AHL): 26 GP 1417 MIN, 9-12-3, 2.75 GAA, .888 SV% - (SV% ranks 49th out of 50). It's important to note that his brief cameo during 2012-13 in the AHL didn't produce encouraging results (5 GP 242 MIN, .886 SV%) and that his SV% was just .900 on a horrendous Trenton team where he played 48 GP and 2741 MIN. While he may have been unfairly overwhelmed in Trenton, nothing he has done at the AHL level has shown that he is on his way to being a regular NHL G in the future. 

• While Wedgewood did show some signs of encouragement in his OHL career and carried Plymouth for a few years, he finished with just a .908 SV% in 122 career OHL games. Not bad, but considering that "84% of all goalies drafted out of the CHL between 1995 and 2009 failed to become NHL regulars" (just prior to his 2010 draft year) and that he fits in below the 84th percentile range of his fellow OHL comparisons in the same study, then his chances of making the NHL as a regular one day appear fairly low. For whatever reason, a lot of goalies seem to develop later which is one reason UDFA G are an attractive low risk, low cost chance to take.

• Clermont has posted a sub .899 SV% in parts of 3 seasons in the ECHL and has hardly seen the AHL. I think it's clear that he's pretty much a non-prospect at this point and the fact he isn't even dressing for Orlando right now, whether it's by injury, or coaches choice, gives me a feeling that he is likely not to be retained by the Devils thus opening up a spot for them to add an UDFA G. He also wasn't a standout in junior hockey further hurting his case.

What I would like to see is the Devils not qualify an offer to Clermont who is a RFA and then send Wedgewood back to the ECHL for 2014-15. Then bring in an UDFA G to compete with Kinkaid for playing time in Albany as Kinkaid's play has really slipped since the turn of the year. I'm not saying that the new guy would work out, but given the disastrous pro careers for Clermont and Wedgewood so far, it's a gamble worth taking. So who are these G that may be out there? (in no particular order)

NCAA
Joel Rumpel (Wisconsin) Age: 22, JR, 6'3, 185
2013-14: 24 GP 18-4-1, 1.83 GAA, .937 SV%, 2 SO
Career SV%: .928 SV% in 79 GP

Steven Summerhays (Notre Dame) Age: 23, SR, 6'0, 188
2013-14: 32 GP 19-11-2, 1.88 GAA, .929 SV%, 7 SO
Career SV%: .916 SV% in 100 GP

Colin Stevens (Union) Age: 20, JR, 6'2, 175
2013-14: 28 GP 20-4-2, 2.02 GAA, .927 SV%, 5 SO
Career SV%: .925 SV% in 51 GP

Kevin Kapalka (Lake Superior State) Age: 24, SR, 6'1, 206
2013-14: 21 GP 9-9-1, 2.60 GAA, .927 SV%, 0 SO
Career SV%: .921 SV% in 109 GP

Branden Komm (Bentley) Age: 22, SR, 6'1, 180
2013-14: 34 GP 18-10-4, 2.38 GAA, .926 SV%, 1 SO
Career SV%: .920 SV% in 112 GP

C.J. Motte (Ferris State) Age: 22, JR, 6'0, 190
2013-14: 34 GP 24-7-3, 2.28 GAA, .925 SV%, 3 SO
Career SV%: .926 SV% in 81 GP

Jake Hildebrand (Michigan State) Age: 20, SO, 5'11, 183
2013-14: 30 GP 8-14-7, 2.41 GAA, .925 SV%, 2 SO
Career SV%: .927 SV% in 59 GP

-- Attended 2013 New Jersey Devils Prospect Camp and has carried a bad MSU team for 2 years.

Raphael Girard (Harvard) Age: 23, SR, 5'11, 185
2013-14: 16 GP 5-8-2, 2.52 GAA, .924 SV%, 2 SO
Career SV%: .919 SV% in 63 GP

Casey DeSmith (New Hampshire) Age: 22, JR, 6'0, 180
2013-14: 32 GP 17-14-0, 2.34 GAA, .922 SV%, 2 SO
Career SV%: .924 SV% in 92 GP

OHL
Franky Palazzese (Sudbury) Age: 20, 6'1, 160
2013-14: 58 GP 27-21-2-7, 2.92 GAA, .918 SV%, 5 SO
Career SV%: .914 SV% in 173 GP

-- Rocky start to his OHL career but over the last 3 years he has a .921 SV% in 137 GP.

WHL
Eetu Laurikainen (Swift Current) Age: 21, 6'0, 185
2013-14: 51 GP 23-20-1-5, 2.86 GAA, .916 SV%, 4 SO
Career SV%: .919 SV% in 111 GP

Jordon Cooke (Kelowna) Age: 20, 5'10, 177
2013-14: 50 GP 38-7-0-4, 2.27 GAA, .922 SV%, 4 SO
Career SV%: .915 SV% in 148 GP

-- How much has he benefited from playing on some strong Kelowna teams?

Notes: I'm not including Freshman like Christian Frey or Cole Huggins or Juniors like Clay Witt, Keegan Asmundson, or Jimmy Sarjeant who hardly saw time before this year. All stats of 3/12/14. All ages as of 2/1/14. Let me know if you think I'm missing anyone or made any errors.

My opinion: The intriguing NCAA options to me are Rumpel, Stevens, Motte, Hildebrand, and DeSmith. For the CHL options, I think Palazzese and Laurikainen are interesting.