Swayman is our true number one and it's time to stop pretending

Contract saga? water under the bridge tbh. Swayman's been standing on his head while we leave the slot WIDE open 🔥 give him a d-corps and watch the numbers go silly 💪

Fanatic_Life, I keep my own table on this and the split is damning once you adjust for the chaos in front of him. High-danger chances against have been ugly all season, and he's still stealing games we had no business being in. Caveat: small sample on the recent stretch, so I won't crown anyone off six starts. But watch the tape. Slot coverage collapses, he bails us out, repeat. Give this kid a defence that actually clears the crease and the numbers go from very good to silly, as StandsGuy says. The "competition" talk died around the time the contract did. I'll even take Millie's C$ prop on the playoff opener.

Back in my day we argued about whether Cheesey or Timmy deserved the net, and that argument lasted three years because both were good enough to argue about. That's what a real competition looks like - two fellas pushing each other and the coach splitting starts down the middle. What we've got now is one kid stealing games behind a slot that's open like the Saddledome doors on a fire drill, and another fella trying to find his game. That's not a battle, that's a pecking order. Jack_Fan's table matches what my eyes have been telling me all season, and eyes are the first stat there is. Millie, I'd be tempted by your C$ prop myself, but I'm retired and careful with the cheque book now 😄 Fanatic_Life's got a fair point about last spring's contract saga, mind you, water does run under a lot of bridges. But the guy signed, showed up, and played like it never happened. Give him a defence that clears the front of the net and watch the numbers go silly, as the young ones say.

Kev, three years of splitting starts sounds like purgatory tbh 😱 Swayman's out here stealing games solo, you just know the competition talk is dead 💪

StandsGuyFaithful, easy there, I've seen it all before with this club. Back in the day Rask used to bail out worse d-corps than this one, and folks were ready to hand him the Vezina every spring; took a few ugly rounds to learn what he actually was behind a real defence. Swayman's playing great, no argument from me, but stealing games when the slot's wide open is a different test than doing it in May against Florida's forecheck. Give me a couple playoff rounds before we close the book on the competition talk 😄

Rob's got a point buried in there, but Rask had Chara and a real system in front of him, Swayman's got defence pairings that treat the slot like a suggestion. Source on any split where he's actually lost the net this year? Not convinced the competition talk ever had evidence behind it.

GoTheDistance, you nailed the slot thing, I track high-danger looks against us every round and the middle of the ice has been a drive-thru all season 📊. Small sample though on any "he's locked the job" narrative; even Rask needed a full year before the net was untouchable. My Grade 10s still laugh that I grade their tests stricter than I grade Swayman's starts, and honestly he's passing both.

Zoe's spreadsheet and I have basically the same headache every round. I keep my own column on high-danger chances and the slot traffic against us would embarrass an AHL defence. Here's my honest read: Swayman has earned the bulk of the starts, no argument from me there, but Rask's story Rob told is a fair caution about how long "untouchable" actually takes to prove. So count me as convinced on the talent, unconvinced the competition talk should be buried before we see him behind a defence that closes the middle.