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Lichtenstein: Devils' Showcasing Goalie Kinkaid Is A Good Thing For All

By Steve Lichtenstein
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As the Devils celebrated their glorious past this past weekend, the present administrators were busy continuing their evaluations in an attempt to provide for a brighter future.

In the midst of the "NHL 100" party trailers' pit stop at Prudential Center, with former Stanley Cup-winning Devils such as Ken Daneyko, John MacLean, Colin White, Grant Marshall and Jim Dowd among the revelers, New Jersey lost a pair of home games, 3-1 to red-hot Carolina on Saturday and 2-1 in overtime to Dallas on Sunday.

The loss to the Hurricanes officially eliminated the Devils from the postseason. New Jersey has now gone five straight seasons without a playoff berth, tying its longest drought in franchise history. The club missed the playoffs during the first five seasons after it moved from Colorado in 1982.

To put this rebuilding ship back on course, Devils general manager Ray Shero will be facing major decisions this offseason. He has to deal with Las Vegas' expansion draft, which will present a unique challenge. He'll have ample salary cap room, but about a third of Sunday's lineup will be unsigned once this season's schedule concludes in two weeks.

One such pending unrestricted free agent will be backup goalie Keith Kinkaid.

The victor in the preseason battle with Scott Wedgewood, Kinkaid has shown flashes of what it takes to sustain a long NHL career. How long that career continues in New Jersey remains to be seen.

"I think Keith has played pretty well," Devils coach John Hynes said prior to Sunday's loss, during which Kinkaid was flawless save for a pair of Stars' power play goals, one from Ales Hemsky in the third period and the other by Tyler Seguin 20 seconds into overtime. "His competitiveness on the puck ... he's an athletic goalie, so lots of times he battles pretty hard and he makes some saves that he shouldn't make because of his athleticism and battle. I think his ability to play the puck has been very good this year. I think he's done a very good job at moving it."

Devils G Keith Kinkaid
Devils defenseman Ben Lovejoy, left, and goalie Keith Kinkaid, center, defend against Dallas' Jason Spezza during the second period at the Prudential Center on March 26, 2017, in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Consistency has been an issue that has held Kinkaid back at times, both game-to-game and period-to-period, according to Hynes. His up-and-down performance a year ago while starter Cory Schneider was injured led to Wedgewood's mini breakthrough, which turned out to be very short-lived because Wedgewood has since had his own problems staying healthy.

This season, however, there have been games -- a late November shootout loss in Pittsburgh comes to mind -- where Kinkaid was like Slap Shot's Denis Lemieux, making so many acrobatic saves that it wouldn't have been surprising if he hallucinated pucks flying at him in the locker room.

Unfortunately, no matter how well he played, Lemieux didn't win a ton of games either, at least not until the team around him improved.

Kinkaid has stopped 91.4 percent of opponent's shots, which is the league average, according to hockey-reference.com, but he has won only seven of his 20 starts this season.

"I thought Keith made some big saves today," Hynes said after Kinkaid turned aside 30 of Dallas' 32 shots on goal but took another hard-luck loss. "On the first goal, (Devils defenseman Andy) Greene blocks it and then goes down and it looked like it was a little bit of a screen situation, and then you've got Seguin walking down Broadway in a one-on-one situation against one of the most lethal scorers in the league. We did not give him enough run support. He's keeping us in a one-goal game and we didn't make it hard enough to get two and that's what we've got to do for our goaltenders."

If Kinkaid took any solace from the fact that the Devils' predicament this season will allow him to receive more starts in these last two weeks to continue to showcase his abilities, he didn't let on.

"I'm just trying to play my game," Kinkaid said. "Any opportunity I get, it's good for me."

Hynes attempted to dismiss the notion that this stretch run will determine Kinkaid's future but then said, "I think this is a good opportunity for him to get more ice time, to get more games, to get more experience. Part of the evaluation process is the more you get to play, it goes one way or the other. The more you prove you should play more or maybe you're in the role you should be in."

Hynes hinted that Kinkaid feels he should be playing more at this stage of his career. After all, it's not like he's a kid. He'll turn 28 this summer.

The problem is Schneider is firmly entrenched on a contract with an average-annual value of $6 million through the 2021-22 season. Then there is Wedgewood, who will be a restricted free agent after this season, and 20-year old Mackenzie Blackwood, the Devils' second-round pick in the 2015 draft. Either could possibly supplant Kinkaid at some point in the future.

It would be normal for Kinkaid to wonder if his days in New Jersey have a short shelf life.

Insiders insist Shero will get Kinkaid signed after the season under the doctrine that one doesn't let an asset walk out the door without consideration. The Devils, who will protect Schneider in the expansion draft, need another goaltender either signed or tendered with a qualifying offer in restricted free agency to expose to Las Vegas. Ideally, that would be Kinkaid, who theoretically would be judged inferior when compared to some of the Golden Knights' options (the Rangers' Antti Raanta?) in net and get passed over.

Provided, of course, that Kinkaid, who is wrapping up a two-year, $1.45 million contract, agrees to an extension prior to the draft. You see, it won't just be the Devils who will have decisions to make this offseason.

For a FAN's perspective of the Nets, Jets and the NHL, follow Steve on Twitter @SteveLichtenst1

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