Development for player usually stops at around age 26 according to most scouts. Once a player has reaches that age usually they’re usually considered to have reached their top ceiling, whether that ceiling is a high end player or a bottom end player who struggles to stay in the NHL. Very few players are able to develop past the age of 26, but goalies are a special breed of players. Goalies seems to take much longer to develop into what is expected of them. Scouts are all over the place with estimates, but I think it’s safe to say between the ages of 28-30 is usually when you’ll be able to know what kind of goaltender you’ve gotten. Andersen seems to follow this rule but this season seems different for him.
Andersen has been a slow starter since arriving here in Toronto, his October stats have been ugly. Let me show you his stats from his first month of every year he’s played in Toronto.
2016/2017: 2-2-3 3.67GAA .876SV%
2017/2018: 6-5 3.46GAA .896SV%
2018/2019: 6-4 2.53GAA .919SV%
That’s every October since he’s been in a Leafs uniform. Notice this seasons statistics are much better. Now let me show you his seasons numbers after October.
2016/2017: 2.17GAA .922SV%
2017/2018: 2.19GAA .922SV%
2018/2019: 1.70GAA .957SV%
Andersen is looking like a vezina goaltender so far this season. His numbers speak for himself, on top of the fact that’s he’s one of the goalies who receives the most shots on net per game at 32 shots per game.
As you can see by numbers Andersen keeps improving with age. The 29 year old is having himself a career year so far and looks to be going strong even when the Leafs lose. Andersen has taken a lot of flack for his play last season in the playoffs against Boston and I think he took that to heart and has come to play this season. Expect big things from your goaltender this season.
