Juuse Saros is Nashville’s goaltending future. He’s basically attached at the hip to mentor and friend Pekka Rinne. Saros continues to skate in more games as Rinne approaches his last two seasons…at least on his current contract.
Season Overview
Saros skated in 31 games this season, a career high. A few of those games were consecutive after Rinne suffered a small injury early in the fall. Saros, as expected, performed admirably. Take a look at his season overview here:
Over 31 games, Saros was 17-10-2. That’s not an awful record for a goaltender who often sees a tired team in front of him on the second half of back-to-backs. He posted a .915 Sv% over those 31 games, but many fans are antsy to see Saros in more contests to see his performance with a greater workload.
Best Moment
Holy Juuse! He made 47 saves in a game in January against the Golden Knights.
Also, an honorable mention goes to Saros’ golden pads. It seems those pads will make an appearance this season as well.
How about this shutout win against the Wild to clinch a playoff spot?
Worst Moment
There’s not a particularly bad “worst” moment that comes to mind for Juuse Saros. Sometimes, he gets beat on a breakaway or an odd-man rush. He’s usually the netminder on the second half of back-to-back games, and those games can be rough on any goaltender because the team is tired in front of him.
#74 did see action in one playoff game against Dallas, but that’s not particularly noteworthy.
2019-2020 Projection
As mentioned above, many of us would like to see Saros with closer to 40 games this season. The throne is still Rinne’s, but the time in night for Saros to get closer to 40 starts to create a true tandem in the Nashville net.
Final Grade
A-
There is always room for improvement for goaltenders. Saros had a lingering minor injury at the end of the season that could have been a factor in his performance in the spring. The younger Nashville netminder continues to win hearts and impress fans with his incredible positioning, technical work, and uncanny ability to read plays.
The real question is how Saros will perform with a larger workload. His starts keep going up, and that’s exactly what Nashville fans need to see after nearly a decade of Pekka Rinne.
Grade Juuse Saros’ season.
| A | 63 |
| B | 15 |
| C | 1 |
| You’re wrong | 0 |