He opted for the Anaheim Ducks, but with Jonas Hiller and Viktor Fasth well in place, they sent him to the Minnesota Wild last April. However, with Niklas Backstrom and Josh Harding, both of their roster spots are taken as well.
It also marks the third NHL franchise he's a part of where there is another lefty ahead of him on the depth chart, Mathieu Garon having held that position in Edmonton.
This card is is from In The Game's 2007-08 Between The Pipes set (card #17, the Future Stars sub-set); it shows him playing for the Springfield Falcons in the AHL:
JDD's a fine talent, and he has shown flashes of greatness at the NHL level, usually followed by long bouts of difficulties. If he can work on his consistency a bit, he might have a future as a back-up, if not, perhaps Europe will come calling. Then again, consistency goes both ways: if he could have some stability rather than keep moving from league-to-league and franchise-to-franchise, maybe that would help. In the one season he stayed in the NHL, he managed a respectable 3.26 GAA and .901 save percentage in 48 games - with an Oilers team that went 27-47-8, no less, a last-place team that scored over 100 goals less than the league's best and whose leading scorer - I repeat: LEADING SCORER - was Dustin Penner, followed by two guys who played less than 70 games. With eight players at -18 or worse.
I had sent him this card in 2009 or 2010, care of the Oilers.
No comments:
Post a Comment