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Could St. Louis Blues Pick Up G Robin Lehner?

By Kate Cimini|

The Senators goaltender, Robin Lehner, was medically cleared today to begin working out after a concussion that sidelined him late in the season, and for several months. Lehner was diagnosed with a concussion in late February that lead to the emergence of Andrew Hammond (known to many as The Hamburglar).

Now, however, the 2009 pick may be up for grabs. According to Ian Mendes of TSN 1200 Senators GM Brian Murray was not clear on which goalie would be moved, only that one would be traded.

While teams with goaltending woes such as Buffalo and Edmonton (and some with made-up goaltending woes, hello, Canucks) are being floated as possible landing places for Lehner or Hammond, the St. Louis Blues are another team that could stand to take a look at either.

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While they’ve got two strong goaltenders in place, Hitchcock didn’t seem to favor one over the other, giving Allen the majority of the playing time in the postseason over Elliott, who was initially said to be the starting goaltender.

Instead, Hitch “rode the hot hand” of Allen who performed admirably in all except the last two games. Let’s be clear: Allen and Elliott’s performances did not make or break the series for the St. Louis Blues; that blame falls on a combination of regular-season coaching and regular-season skating showing up in the post. But blame often unfairly falls on the goaltender, whose mistakes are the most clearly visible to even the least attentive viewers.

And so we enter into a hypothetical: would Lehner fit on the Blues?

Lehner is a left-handed goalie. He’s still young at 23 (younger even than Allen, who is considered to be pretty green for the amount of playing time he got this season) but his play isn’t necessarily indicative of his age. Like most of the new wave of goaltenders he’s enormous, standing at 6’5″ and 225 lbs, and knows how to use his body effectively.

Lehner is a more conservative goaltender than Allen, similar to Elliott, moving the minimal amount he has to in order to efficiently create a solid wall between the skaters and his net. His size is an asset in this endeavor, as you can see here when he shut Jordan Staal down in a February game against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Lehner’s control down low is good, as is his work side-to-side, but his rebound control needs a little work still, something Jake Allen has really improved upon over the past season. His stats are a little inconsistent, clearly still playing better at the AHL level than the NHL, but they are improving to the point that it makes sense to continue to develop him on NHL ice if the room is available.

And the Blues have seen him shut them down. Lehner became the first goaltender in Ottawa’s franchise history to face 50 shots in one game and win. Only a few weeks before his concussion sidelined him he did so, bringing his team to a 5-4 victory over St. Louis.

If St. Louis were indeed to make a play for Lehner they would have to free up salary space elsewhere for the time being; Lehner is owed $2.225 million for the two upcoming seasons and will become an RFA in time for the 2016-2017 season.

Although he has a higher save percentage at .917, Brian Elliott would likely be the one to go to make room for Lehner. He makes $2.5 million a year, has seven years on Lehner and appears to fallen out of favor with Hitchcock as a starting goaltender.

While we might not see Lehner in a Blues uniform come October, this will be an interesting situation to keep an eye on nonetheless.

Next: Blues Should Hire For Front-Office Analytics

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