No. 1 – G Michael DiPietro (Windsor Spitfires, OHL)
The story of Michael DiPietro‘s season is a roller coaster. I’m not just talking about his play either. The Windsor Spitfires are in a rebuild and I wondered if the team would move their starting netminder. Alas, DiPietro was left a man on an island. The team would live and die by how well he played, which would be a nightmare for most goaltenders.
Good thing, Mikey isn’t most goaltenders. Yes, the season has had it’s ups and downs, but some of his best games were in this playoff series against Sarnia. Things looked good last week, when the series was even at one game a piece.
However, the team’s difficulties with goal-scoring would eventually be their undoing. DiPietro was playing his heart out, facing 147 shots through four games this week. That total was 242 over the course of the series. Out of fairness, his team needed to score goals. I don’t think there is anything more he could have done, short of doing the impossible and shutting out Sarnia four out of seven times.
The Spitfires were eliminated in six games and DiPietro left with a .934 save percentage. Not bad, considering he was under siege in nearly every game of that series. Once again, Rick Dhaliwal has the inside scoop of what could happen with him soon.
#Canucks goalie prospect Michael DiPietro’s OHL season is over today. There has been discussion about DiPietro going to Utica to work out with the Comets goalie coaches and practise. He is still not signed by Van or signed a PTO.
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) April 1, 2018
There is no rush to sign him, but I do like the sound of him getting to join practices with Utica. Assuming no injuries, I see no issue. One final thing to note about DiPietro’s season. There aren’t many advanced statistics for goaltenders, but I do like the use of GSAA, or goals saved above average.
A simple explanation is that this value compares goaltenders to the average in their league. Michael DiPietro has a GSAA of 30.54, which is the second highest value in the OHL according to prospect-stats.com.
Next: It is time to let go of the Sedins
Despite being on a rebuilding team, he has shown that his skills are well above the OHL average. This bodes well for the future of Canucks goaltending, especially with Thatcher Demko making more and more progress. Vancouver won’t need to draft another goaltender this year, but could look to bolster this area in the next three years. For now, the most pressing need is on defence. Fortunately for them, the best player available could very well be a defenceman.