Pascal Leclaire: Sens Savior?

I think people around the league need a reminder of how good Pascal Leclaire can play. In his only season as the #1 goaltender, he had a microscopic goals against average (2.25), a fantastic save percentage (.919) and 9 shutouts. You read that right. He had NINE shutouts in only 54 games. Not too bad for an introduction to the NHL, right? Well, after only 12 more games in a Blue Jackets uniform, Leclaire is looking for a fresh start in Ottawa.

So what happened? Steve Mason happened. Let me correct myself, Calder Trophy winning Steve Mason happened. While Leclaire battled some injuries last season, Steve Mason grabbed a hold of his opportunity and had one of the best rookie seasons by a goaltender the NHL has ever seen. Mason’s success served to add insult to his injury, as it were.

With Mason setting the league on fire and the Blue Jackets blazing their way to their first playoff season in franchise history, management decided to cash in their back-up goaltender for a 2nd line center (Antoine Vermette) who could help them in their playoff run. The move was completely understandable: they could only play one goaltender at a time and desperately needed more forward depth. They were trading a guy that sat on the bench most nights for a Top 6 forward. Considering the importance of a playoff season for the fanbase, it was the right time for a bold move.

But as time has passed, people have forgotten how good of a prospect Pascal Leclaire was before anyone had heard of Steve Mason. He was a 1st round pick (8th overall) behind guys like Ilya Kovalchuk, Mikko Koivu and new teammate Jason Spezza. Not bad company for a guy that was traded with a 2nd round pick to the Senators in a deadline deal last season. In his time in the NHL, he’s shown that he has the potential to be mentioned with the guys that were drafted ahead of him in 2001. But with Steve Mason ahead of him, he wasn’t going to get that opportunity in Columbus.

So why was a young goaltender with so much potential traded with a 2nd round pick for a rental player? Why didn’t the Blue Jackets get more in return? One word: Health. For all of his accomplishments and accolades to start his career, Leclaire constantly ran into injury problems. While in Columbus, his 2006-07 season was ended prematurely from a knee injury. The next season saw a head injury that caused him to miss 9 games at the end of the season. Steve Mason took over the starting job in 2008—but he still managed to injure his ankle and miss the majority of the season.

There’s a reason the Senators haven’t seen Leclaire between the pipes even though he was acquired at the trade deadline. It’s not like they were saving him for this year. His stats were fairly ugly before he was put on the shelf for the remainder of the season: .867 save percentage and a 3.83 goals against average. Ouch.

Only time will tell if he has fully recovered from the ankle injury that ended his season last year. He’s expected to carry the mail for the Senators this season—and for good reason. A healthy Pascal Leclaire is quite possibly the best goaltender they’ve had since their rebirth in the 90’s. When they were an Eastern powerhouse, they were always just ONE piece away. Just one, small, blocker wearing piece away. With Leclaire, Bryan Murray and crew hope that they’ve finally solved their goaltending woes.

Stop and think about it: Is Pascal Leclaire the best goaltender that the Senators have ever had? It’s not the lofty accomplishment it may sound like. Is he better than Patrick Lalime? Martin Gerber? A broke-down, out of shape Dominik Hasek? When it gets down to it, it’s either Leclaire or Ray Emery. Yes, the same guy that had problems with cocaine, problems with management and was sent to Siberia (not really, but almost). For Senators fans, I’ll hope that Leclaire works out better than Emery.

I always thought Leclaire was an underrated guy when he was on top of his game in Columbus. We may not know if he’ll regain that magic that he had a couple of years ago—but I do know one thing: If he performs in Canada, he certainly won’t be underrated.

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