While other jobs are still being figured out as training camp plugs along, a couple of them have been decided already in goal. The Dallas Stars race for backup goalie will go to Andrew Raycroft as the team put Brent Krahn on waivers. It was an outside shot for Krahn to make the team and he’s come up just short of winning the backup job.
For Raycroft, he signed in the off-season after playing the backup to Roberto Luongo last year. Expect him to see a little bit more action in Dallas as Kari Lehtonen’s backup. With Lehtonen’s frightful injury history, Raycroft might get into a few more games than even he expects.
In Nashville, the Predators settled their battle to be Pekka Rinne’s second in command in goal. While Mark Dekanich put in a tough effort, Swedish import Anders Lindback has won the backup job as Dekanich was sent down to AHL Milwaukee today.
Lindback was Nashville’s seventh round pick in the 2008 draft and he’s a tall drink of water, standing in at 6'6" tall. With Pekka Rinne standing at 6'5" this gives the Predators nearly 13 feet of goaltending. There’s nothing useful about that, it’s just pretty damn remarkable. This season will mark Lindback’s first in the NHL. Lindback played for Timra IK in the Swedish Elite League.
(Raycroft photo: Doug Pensinger - Getty Images)