Steve Mason get 3-year deal; have Flyers actually solved goalie issues?
There was much ridicule when Steve Mason of the Columbus Blue Jackets was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers, mostly centered around the fact that the Flyers had previously traded a goalie to the Jackets that turned out to be a Vezina winner.
Plus, Mason looked like was headed to Bust-ville after winning the Calder in 2009.
But he was brilliant in a 7-game audition for the Flyers last season and more than competent for the Flyers this season. That’s resulted in a three-year, $12.3 million contract for the would-be restricted free agent.
Mason is 19-11-5 with a 2.48 GAA and a .917 save percentage on a team that that got off to a terrible start. His steadiness in goal is one of the reasons the Flyers and Coach Craig Berube have been able to rebound. For example, he has a .901 save percentage in his 16 losing efforts this season. He’s keeping them in games.
(Full marks to Jeff Reese, Flyers goalie coach, for helping turn Mason around.)
His. $4.1 million annual cap hit edges him just ahead of Cory Schneider’s cap number for the New Jersey Devils ($4 million).
Is he going to work with the Flyers, going forward? You’d still like to see him in a tandem than carrying the freight on his own, even if he’s earned the glut of starts this season. Ray Emery is a UFA next summer.
Overall, it’s the next chapter in a quirky hockey fable: Goalie wins rookie of the year, falls apart, loses his job, comes to a place where goalies have been doomed to fail and ends up earning a considerable contract.
