Montreal Canadiens: Why Keith Kinkaid Is Perfect Backup For Carey Price

The Montreal Canadiens signed Keith Kinkaid to a one-year contract on July 1. They targeted him early in free agency because he is the perfect goaltender to backup Carey Price.

The Montreal Canadiens were rumoured to be in on several big name free agents. When the dust settled on a busy first day of free agency, the Habs had clearly made Keith Kinkaid one of their top choices to sign as soon as free agency opened on July 1st.

Kinkaid is not going to battle Carey Price for the starter’s job. He is clearly the backup option as his one-year deal with a $1.75 million cap hit would suggest. They were wise to target Kinkaid, as he is going to be the perfect backup for Price next season.

The Canadiens have had a hard time finding the right number two option for the past few seasons. Last year, Antti Niemi struggled to play at an NHL level with consistency and did not get a start for the last two months of the regular season after continued struggles.

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It was hoped that Charlie Lindgren would take over the role by now. However, he has not even been able to keep a hold on the starter’s job for the Laval Rocket of the American Hockey League. He played 33 games last season but had a 2.94 goals against average and a .884 save percentage for the Rocket. These aren’t the numbers of a minor leaguer that is forcing his way onto an NHL roster.

Lindgren was also given an opportunity in 2017-18 to take on the backup role after Al Montoya struggled to start the season. He posted a 4-8-2 record with a GAA over three before packing for the minors again.

The job is now Kinkaid’s, and for a year at least, the Habs will have no worries when Price gets the odd night off. If you look at Kinkaid’s numbers from last season, they don’t look a lot better than Niemi’s which is worrisome. However if you dig into the numbers a bit more, you will find Kinkaid has shown to be an excellent number two option in his career.

Kinkaid technically made his NHL debut in 2012-13 when he was forced into duty against the Tampa Bay Lightning after starter Johan Hedberg gave up three goals on 11 shots in a late season game. Kinkaid stopped 12 of the 13 shots he faced, but wouldn’t return to the NHL until the 2014-15 campaign.

Kinkaid served as Cory Schneider‘s backup that season. He never started back to back games, often going two weeks or more between starts and just giving Schneider a day off when necessary. Kinkaid posted a 6-5-4 record on a mediocre Devils team with a 2.59 GAA and a .915 SV%.

Duplicating those numbers next season would be perfect for the Habs.

Over the next two seasons, the Farmingville, New York native pretty much did copy his numbers from his rookie season. He started 20 games in 2015-16, providing relief for Schneider once again and had a 9-9-1 record with a 2.81 GAA and a .905 SV%.

In 2016-17, Kinkaid went 8-13-3 on a New Jersey team that was heading towards the first overall pick once again. He had a solid 2.64 GAA and .916 SV% for a team that was very leaky defensively and finished with a 28-40-14 record.

In 2017-18, Kinkaid played well enough to be trusted with the starter’s role for the Devils for the second half of the season. He helped the under Devils to a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, just a year after finished last overall in the conference standings.

Last season, Kinkaid was expected to be the starter for the Devils. Though he began the year on fire, with two shutouts in his first four games, the wheels quickly fell off as he struggled to carry the load of a number one netminder.

His numbers quickly dropped, as he found out standing behind the team that once again was bad enough to end up with the first overall pick is no picnic. When Kinkaid led the Devils to a win over the Montreal Canadiens on November 21st, he had a record of 9-5-0 with a .916 SV%. Again, pretty solid numbers. However, the workload of a number one guy on a lousy team resulted in an ugly 3.36 GAA and a .891 SV% by the end of the season.

Luckily, the Canadiens aren’t looking for a number one goaltender. Kinkaid proved in his first three NHL seasons he is an excellent backup goaltender. He showed at the end of the 2017-18 season and the start of last season that he can carry a team for a short period of time as well.

This will make him an excellent addition to the Habs team next season. He won’t be asked to play consecutive games as long as Price is healthy. If Price goes down with a minor injury, Kinkaid can carry a team for a few weeks and keep them afloat. That make him the perfect understudy for Carey Price next season.