Columbus Blue Jackets: Comparing Goalie Tandems – Central Division

The Columbus Blue Jackets matched up fairly well against the Pacific Division, however the Central has been considered the toughest division in the NHL since the realignment. A division consisting of a modern day dynasty and a relatively new but successful team makes it one of the oddest divisions league-wide.

Columbus Blue Jackets vs. Chicago Blackhawks

The Columbus Blue Jackets‘ goalie tandem of Sergei Bobrovsky and Joonas Korpisalo is going to be an interesting storyline for the upcoming season, however the Chicago Blackhawks‘ pair of Corey Crawford and former Blue Jacket Anton Forsberg will be just as interesting.

Joonas Korpisalo and Anton Forsberg know each other very well, as a result of the constant competition between the two. Korpisalo won the battle in Columbus, with a much more impressive stat line in his NHL career; Forsberg is still young and has room to grow though.

Related Story: Pacific Goalie Tandems

Forsberg’s save percentage in his NHL career is a horrific .879 along with a goals against average (GAA) of 4.02. Comparing that to Korpisalo’s save percentage of .915 and GAA of 2.68, it makes sense that Jarmo Kekalainen decided to pick Korpisalo as the future of the franchise.

Sergei Bobrovsky and Corey Crawford have had very similar stats in their careers, a .918/2.37 stat line for Crawford and a .920/2.45 for Bobrovsky. Many arguments can be made that Crawford has had a better defense in front of him for a majority of his career; however he is undoubtedly a very good goaltender.

The edge for backup goaltender goes to Columbus, but in terms of starting goaltender it becomes much closer. Sergei Bobrovsky will likely have to carry more of a load for the team, while Crawford’s defense in front of him will make his job slightly easier. It is a very slight edge for which ever team has one, if there is one at all.

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Columbus Blue Jackets vs. Minnesota Wild

The Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild both joined the NHL in 2000, essentially tying the franchises together for the foreseeable future. Both teams are now at the greatest points of success they have seen to this point, but Minnesota has done more than Columbus. Devan Dubnyk has been just as big of a part in Minnesota’s success as Sergei Bobrovsky has been for Columbus.

Dubnyk was widely considered the front runner for the Vezina trophy for a majority of the 2016-2017 season. A tough end to the season for him ended his chances and allowed Bobrovsky to win it. Dubnyk’s stat line of .923/2.54 would be almost enough to win the Vezina some years, but Bobrovsky’s .931/2.06 made it impossible to justify Dubnyk winning.

Both goaltenders had a difficult beginning to their career, Bobrovsky’s struggles in Philadelphia would be seen as minimal compared to Dubnyk’s. Seen as one of the worst goalies in the league for quite a while, Dubnyk was almost out of chances at the NHL level. His career was revived out after Minnesota traded for him out of desperation in what became one of the best deals in team history.

Alex Stalock fell out of favor in San Jose, however he still has the ability to be a solid backup for Minnesota. His career stats are very similar to Korpisalo’s, but the edge still does go to Korpisalo.

In terms of starting goaltenders, the edge goes to Columbus for now, but Dubnyk is still getting better seemingly every year. Next year, the edge could easily go to Minnesota.