Michal Neuvirth

[sparrowtrini]

Well George Mcphee anounced today that Neuvirth was clearly ready for the NHL & Boudreau said they are going to see how he does.

While I know its only been 2 starts(7 in total)this year but Ive witnessed them both. The first one I saw on TV he was soso against Les Habs. Tonite I saw live and he was horrible.
Bad positioning, lots of rebounds. I assume it was a matter of confidence & getting more experiance. But just had to say, thou I realize it takes Goalies longer to develop(some longer then others) I was disappointed.(SMILE)

[Anonymous]

As a leafs fan, I wasn't disappointed in the least. He did make some good saves, but he did let in some weak goals. Especially the last one, he just completely lost the play. I would say he isn't quite ready.

[HyperScythe]

He is ready - he just needs the experience of learning how to read plays in the NHL. He won't get that from playing in the AHL. It will come

Varlamov had the exact same problem when he first came up.

Difference was, Varlamov had a powerhouse infront of him, managed to pull wins out even with bad stats... We'll call them 'Theodore wins'.

Neuvirth has been unlucky - Game against the Habs he was shaky and nervous and the Habs were playing well - They probably wouldn't have won with Theo in net either. He should have been better though, but it was his first start and I will give him that one.

Tonight the Caps just laid down and let the Leafs do their thing. It was disappointing, but the Caps were tired and jet lagged and Mike Green was whining about it all night on Twitter...

So you knew he would play bad - and wow. He was ****ing awful last night. Which I think I put down to his attitude.

Anyway thats not the point - point is Neuvirth had little support last night, he because he got lit up his confidence dropped throughout the game. The last goal was soft and should have been stopped - but he was mentally focusing on the loss by that time.

He has the skills and it will be sick to watch him and Varlamov tandem next year, before one of them gets dealt. They are both elite level goalies who both will be superstars one day on whatever team they end up on. In a few years it is very likely that they will both be top 10 in the league.

Who knows though - 90% of the Caps are UFA/RFA at the end of the year, including Semin, Backstrom and Neuvirth. Maybe they deal him? More likely they just let Theodore go and buy out Nylander. But they are tight up against the cap.

Anyway - I blame tonights loss on Green. But really - anyone who wasn't Poti or Morrison or the top line was to blame

[GoalieGuild]

I'll be covering Neuvirth in tomorrow's School of Block along with some other goalies so check back tomorrow on Dobber Hockey front page to learn more about Neuvy.

Scythe is right, Neuvy is absolutely ready for the NHL. It just comes down to experience for him and having consistent confidence. He was pretty bad in the game against the Leafs, but for fantasy hockey managers, you need to be able to recognize legit NHL talent and try to pick out the reasons why he struggles.

In both NHL games I've watched him play this year, he displayed an improvement in technique skill and speed.

But he does not yet know how to manage an NHL game and he will probably have a slightly longer adjustment period compared to that of Varlamov because Neuvirth has size issues. He's very small and compact, a lot like a Toskala, Theodore and even like Niittymaki.

Even though Neuvy has "played bad" in his NHL action this year, it's not for lack of talent. He just needs to be patient, stay focused and confident and things will be fine. Same goes for his fantasy owners.

[sentium]

An important difference between Varly and Neuvy, in terms of experience, is that Varly has A LOT more experience playing against men in pro leagues.

[eyemissgilmour]

From what I've seen of him, Neuvirth does not strike me as an NHL goalie. I say this for two simple reasons: 1) he's way too small 2) intangibles

I'm no goalie expert but it seems to me if you take a goalie with average athleticism, but outstanding intangibles (e.g. mental toughness, knowing the shooters, playing the angles well and challenging the play) he is far more likely to be a consistent pro than a goalie like Neuvirth who has all the athleticism in the world, but is tiny like Allan Bester, gets easily rattled, hides deep in his net, and always drops to his knees too quickly.

I say this with great disappointment because I own Neuvy in one of my leagues and was hoping he'd be a starter for me in a couple years.

Neuvirth actually reminds me alot of Budaj... a big tease with loads of talent, but lacking all the intangibles to be a #1. And you can't exactly teach mental toughness or the memory to learn the shooters tendancies on the ice...

[sentium]

Originally Posted by eyemissgilmour

From what I've seen of him, Neuvirth does not strike me as an NHL goalie. I say this for two simple reasons: 1) he's way too small 2) intangibles

I'm no goalie expert but it seems to me if you take a goalie with average athleticism, but outstanding intangibles (e.g. mental toughness, knowing the shooters, playing the angles well and challenging the play) he is far more likely to be a consistent pro than a goalie like Neuvirth who has all the athleticism in the world, but is tiny like Allan Bester, gets easily rattled, hides deep in his net, and always drops to his knees too quickly.

I say this with great disappointment because I own Neuvy in one of my leagues and was hoping he'd be a starter for me in a couple years.

Neuvirth actually reminds me alot of Budaj... a big tease with loads of talent, but lacking all the intangibles to be a #1. And you can't exactly teach mental toughness or the memory to learn the shooters tendancies on the ice...

Huh? Neuvirth has mental toughness coming out of his ears. He bounced around in the OHL, back to the Czech Republic, to the AHL and ECHL just because Washington's goalie situation was completely weird. But he pulled through and flat out dominated as he took the Bears to winning the Calder Cup, getting the MVP award.

So I don't get where you're getting that "lacking intangibles" argument from. You also have Neuvirth's style completely wrong. If we go by Washington's system, Varlamov is the wild, athletic goalie with crazy reflexes and Neuvirth is the calm one, great positioning, never getting rattled, etc.

Sorry to go off on a rant, but your post just screams misinformation to me.

He reminds you of Budaj... how much have you actually watched Neuvirth play?

[eyemissgilmour]

I can only go by what I've seen so far.

He is the same size as Budaj, both are butterfly goalies, both are agile, both go down too early, both seem to have problems with rebound control, and both seem to get rattled easily at the NHL level.
How much more similarity do you need?

If you're going to site his MVP award in the AHL as evidence of his mental toughness, you might want to check out the number of previous players to win that award who eventually become prominent NHLers (hint: it's around zero).

It's still way too early for sure, but calling him a future star is equally as misinformative as me stating my hunch that (based on what I've seen so far) he does not strike me as an NHLer.

[GoalieGuild]

EyeMissGilmour,

I am glad you made that post. Although I don't fully agree with it, it's kind of an important lesson that I'm actually discussing tomorrow School of Block. I'm just saving all my thoughts for that =)

When you say "From what I've seen of him" ... what exactly do you mean? Because if you have only actually sat and watched maybe one or two full games from start to finish, that's not going to accurately reflect the value and overall ability of a goalie.

Neuvirth is small, but completely solid in every other sense. He's an amazing reader of plays that will only get better at the NHL level with more NHL minutes. He definitely has some intagibles. I have even written about him on here before, about his great butterfly and style. It's very unique very awesome very refined. I'd say he's primed to be one of the best long-term keepers if he stays on this path.

Just like any goalie, things can change quickly, in months, in weeks. Just gotta wait it out, but talent is talent. Neuvirth has it all.

[DuklaNation]

Put down the kool aid. Neuvirth definitely needs more time in the AHL. He looked shaky at best. At least this will temper the unreasonable expectations of beating out Varly. Aint gonna happen any time soon.