Keith Kinkaid Appreciation Thread.

[NJDevs4978]

3 hours ago, Devs3cups said:

He is really streaky. For a good stretch in February he was extremely bad. He sre is playing real good right now though. 

He was bad the entire season till mid-February...but that game in Philly was a defibrulator and he's gone from being like an .870 goalie to a .935 goalie over his last eight starts since that game.

Edited March 11, 2018 by NJDevs4978

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

15 hours ago, NJDevs4978 said:

He was bad the entire season till mid-February...but that game in Philly was a defibrulator and he's gone from being like an .870 goalie to a .935 goalie over his last eight starts since that game.

He was at .891 prior to this eight game burst (.934).  If anything, it gives you a little hope than Schneider can get his act together before the end of the year too.  And the Devils will probably need him...if KK somehow keeps this up, great for everyone, but it seems like an awful lot to ask.

[DevsMan84]

He has had a nice run.  He earned the start on Wednesday.

That being said I am judging him by his entire body of work and not these past 8-10 games.  Like someone else said he is a fringe backup at best otherwise.  He is just playing out of his mind right now (and getting a good amount of luck).

[mfitz804]

22 minutes ago, DevsMan84 said:

He has had a nice run.  He earned the start on Wednesday.

That being said I am judging him by his entire body of work and not these past 8-10 games.  Like someone else said he is a fringe backup at best otherwise.  He is just playing out of his mind right now (and getting a good amount of luck).

Correct, last game almost every bounce went his way, there were at least 3-4 plays where they "should have" scored but did not. 

[DevsMan84]

12 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

Correct, last game almost every bounce went his way, there were at least 3-4 plays where they "should have" scored but did not. 

Yup that's why I am not aboard the KK is our future starter while Cory is trash/should be traded crowd.  Thankfully I really don't see much if at all on here, but FB has been a Chernobyl-like disaster in regards to that.

['7']

 

19 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

Correct, last game almost every bounce went his way, there were at least 3-4 plays where they "should have" scored but did not. 

Last game it cut both ways. We had plenty of "should have" chances as well"

 

['7']

45 minutes ago, DevsMan84 said:

He has had a nice run.  He earned the start on Wednesday.

That being said I am judging him by his entire body of work and not these past 8-10 games.  Like someone else said he is a fringe backup at best otherwise.  He is just playing out of his mind right now (and getting a good amount of luck).

I wouldn't say he's a fringe level backup though. I think he's a legitimate NHL level backup. Fringe guys are the ones who bounce back and forth between the AHL. Kinkaid put up solid save percentages last year and 14-15.

[DevsMan84]

5 minutes ago, '7' said:

I wouldn't say he's a fringe level backup though. I think he's a legitimate NHL level backup. Fringe guys are the ones who bounce back and forth between the AHL. Kinkaid put up solid save percentages last year and 14-15.

He was getting outplayed by Lack at one point this season about 6 weeks ago.

He is fringe.

Edited March 12, 2018 by DevsMan84

[mfitz804]

21 minutes ago, '7' said:

 

Last game it cut both ways. We had plenty of "should have" chances as well"

 

Agreed, but that is irrelevant to the issue of how KK played, which is the topic of the thread. 

Edited March 12, 2018 by mfitz804

[Nicomo]

31 minutes ago, DevsMan84 said:

He was getting outplayed by Lack at one point this season about 6 weeks ago.

He is fringe.

Way too small a sample size with Lack. Anyone can play well for a game or two. 

KK is a perfectly capable NHL backup, imo. It’s not always pretty, and he’s inconsistent, but you can win with him. 

Edited March 12, 2018 by Nicomo

[DevsMan84]

12 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

Way too small a sample size with Lack. Anyone can play well for a game or two. 

KK is a perfectly capable NHL backup, imo. It’s not always pretty, and he’s inconsistent, but you can win with him. 

That seems like a contradiction from the sentence right before it.

[Nicomo]

3 minutes ago, DevsMan84 said:

That seems like a contradiction from the sentence right before it.

His biggest problem seems to be giving up early goals. It would definitely be nice if he could clean that up. I don’t think a goalie who can not only beat, but play really well against the best of the league (Pens, Lightning, Preds, etc) is “fringe” though. 

[DevsMan84]

18 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

His biggest problem seems to be giving up early goals. It would definitely be nice if he could clean that up. I don’t think a goalie who can not only beat, but play really well against the best of the league (Pens, Lightning, Preds, etc) is “fringe” though. 

Devils even when they were good were known to make fringe NHL backups look like the second coming of Hasek (they still do).  I wouldn't put too much stock into it.

It is what he can do day in and day out.  Before this 8-10 game streak he certainly looked and was a fringe NHL backup.

Edited March 12, 2018 by DevsMan84

[redruM]

KK is an ok back up that thankfully got hot for us, his rebound control is still brutal ( tying goal on Saturday night!!!) , and Cangy gives him way too much credit for saves for pucks that hit the post...

[Nicomo]

Idk, I thought his rebound control was pretty good against the Preds. There was one save where he kicked the puck out into the most perfect spot that was almost Marty-esque. 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

I still think KK is a decent NHL backup...he wasn't as bad as he was when he was putting up an .891 save%, and he's not this .934% guy over his last eight starts either.  He's somewhere in between.  With so many teams in the NHL now, that means he should be able to find work, as long as he can continue to be about what he's been over full seasons. 

This being said, right at this particular moment, when the Devils desperately needed someone to step up, KK managed to, even if good fortune has played a role in it.  So I appreciate that he's managed to do that. 

As far as Lack goes, he managed to stop 48 out of 51 shots in a road win against the Lightning, so I appreciate the hell out of that. 

2 minutes ago, DevsMan84 said:

Devils even when they were good were known to make fringe NHL backups look like the second coming of Hasek (they still do).  I wouldn't put too much stock into it.

It is what he can do day in and day out.  Before this 8-10 game streak he certainly looked and was a fringe NHL backup.

KK is what he is....if you have the Cory of 2013-14 to 2015-16 playing for you and you're a good team, you can live with KK as your backup.  Considering what he's been asked to do (more than he should, really), we should probably just be happy that he's been stopping pucks lately. 

But I definitely don't think we're seeing a new-and-improved KK by any stretch...I think ideally KK makes somewhere between 20-25 starts (with a few relief appearances if necessary) and in better seasons will finish with a .912-.917 save%...on a bad club that needs a relatively inexpensive stopgap, maybe you give him 40-50 starts.  But I would never want him as the long-term primary starter, and as we know, he got this chance because a hell of a lot of other sh!t went wrong (Cory getting hurt and being subpar, and no one else in the organization being trustworthy enough to get more games with the big club).  Ideally Cory turns back into the Cory of 2015-16 and before. 

[DevsMan84]

17 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

I still think KK is a decent NHL backup...he wasn't as bad as he was when he was putting up an .891 save%, and he's not this .934% guy over his last eight starts either.  He's somewhere in between.  With so many teams in the NHL now, that means he should be able to find work, as long as he can continue to be about what he's been over full seasons. 

This being said, right at this particular moment, when the Devils desperately needed someone to step up, KK managed to, even if good fortune has played a role in it.  So I appreciate that he's managed to do that. 

As far as Lack goes, he managed to stop 48 out of 51 shots in a road win against the Lightning, so I appreciate the hell out of that. 

KK is what he is....if you have the Cory of 2013-14 to 2015-16 playing for you and you're a good team, you can live with KK as your backup.  Considering what he's been asked to do (more than he should, really), we should probably just be happy that he's been stopping pucks lately. 

But I definitely don't think we're seeing a new-and-improved KK by any stretch...I think ideally KK makes somewhere between 20-25 starts (with a few relief appearances if necessary) and in better seasons will finish with a .912-.917 save%...on a bad club that needs a relatively inexpensive stopgap, maybe you give him 40-50 starts.  But I would never want him as the long-term primary starter, and as we know, he got this chance because a hell of a lot of other sh!t went wrong (Cory getting hurt and being subpar, and no one else in the organization being trustworthy enough to get more games with the big club).  Ideally Cory turns back into the Cory of 2015-16 and before. 

I don't think we even need to go that far back, he was playing very well in October/November for us.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

1 minute ago, DevsMan84 said:

I don't think we even need to go that far back, he was playing very well in October/November for us.

Agree, MB had his metrics that made him insist that Cory wasn't any good this season even before his slump and injury, but I would take the before his-last-10-games Cory in a heartbeat.  So would the Devils...Cory went 17-6-4 before this crazy losing streak. 

[mfitz804]

The big question is, was I premature in getting my full back Keith Kinkaid portrait tattoo, or is he the future?

[NJDfan1711]

 

3 hours ago, DevsMan84 said:

He was getting outplayed by Lack at one point this season about 6 weeks ago.

He is fringe.

Lack was an NHL regular for quite a while, so trying to use that to supplement your argument for Kinkaid barely qualifying as an NHL backup is pretty damn off base.

[DevsMan84]

29 minutes ago, NJDfan1711 said:

 

Lack was an NHL regular for quite a while, so trying to use that to supplement your argument for Kinkaid barely qualifying as an NHL backup is pretty damn off base.

Yet he is our 3rd string goalie right now.

If you want to continue to lower the bar to somehow prove KK is not a fringe NHLer, then by all means go right ahead.

[mfitz804]

53 minutes ago, DevsMan84 said:

Yet he is our 3rd string goalie right now.

If you want to continue to lower the bar to somehow prove KK is not a fringe NHLer, then by all means go right ahead.

Technically, he's even lower than a 3rd string, as we are only carrying the two goalies and he's in the minors. He played a handful (not even) of games in the NHL and had a .903 save percentage.  Oh, and if Schneider never got hurt, he may never have played in the NHL for the Devils. 

The fact that he used to be an NHL goalie doesn't mean he currently is. But KK is. 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Just now, mfitz804 said:

Technically, he's even lower than a 3rd string, as we are only carrying the two goalies and he's in the minors. He played a handful (not even) of games in the NHL and had a .903 save percentage.  Oh, and if Schneider never got hurt, he may never have played in the NHL for the Devils. 

The fact that he used to be an NHL goalie doesn't mean he currently is. But KK is. 

Lack having played for the big-club Devils couldn't have happened without an absolutely perfect storm of events:  first, Wedge gets dealt, then Appleby and Blackwood stink up the joint in the AHL, so Lack gets brought in to help the B-Devs, then Schneider gets hurt, and it's Appleby that briefly gets first dibs before Lack is called up.  Lack's overall save% is .870 for the season at the NHL level this (including Calgary), and for this season and the previous two combined is now .898.  Yeah, he had a pretty good start to his NHL career, but it seems like Lack's NHL best is pretty far back in the rearview at this point. 

[NJDfan1711]

1 hour ago, DevsMan84 said:

Yet he is our 3rd string goalie right now.

If you want to continue to lower the bar to somehow prove KK is not a fringe NHLer, then by all means go right ahead.

I'm not lowering any bar, you're just twisting logic.  It's not opinion or conjecture that Lack was an NHL goalie for a decent period of time, it's fact.  So if you take that goalie and add him to a team that already has two goalies who are considered by most to be better than him, it's not "lowering the bar", it's actually a move of added depth.  If Kinkaid was indeed the fringe level backup you claim him to be, Lack would have been the backup when he was brought in, and he would be the one supplanting Cory right now.  But alas, that's not what's happening, because KK isn't some career AHLer who can't cut it as an NHL starter.  No one's ever going to mistake him for a top 10 goalie, but to cast him off as someone who couldn't be a serviceable tender for quite a few teams on a regular basis is a pretty unjust insult to his playing ability.  The guy's been called upon to keep us alive in a playoff hunt when our then starter was sidelined with an extended injury, and although he's had some ups and downs, he's done what we needed and kept us afloat.  The 18 other guys that play in front of him haven't exactly been world-beaters lately either, so all in all I think he's done a good enough job up to this point, so give the man his due and respect.

[Neb00rs]

4 hours ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

I still think KK is a decent NHL backup...he wasn't as bad as he was when he was putting up an .891 save%, and he's not this .934% guy over his last eight starts either.  He's somewhere in between.  With so many teams in the NHL now, that means he should be able to find work, as long as he can continue to be about what he's been over full seasons. 

Yeah, when it comes down to it, he's a .904 on the season. His career sv% is .910 and he finished 15-16 with a .904. He's pretty much where he's always been.