Seattle Kraken are not getting the Philipp Grubauer they signed up for
Before it Went Downhill
To better understand just how far Philipp Grubauer has fallen, we need to take a look at his final season with the Colorado Avalanche. While he put out decent stats in all three seasons with the Avs, it’s his final season that sealed the deal for Seattle.
At the conclusion of the 2020-21 regular season, Gruby had a 30-9-1 record. He was second in the league in GAA (Goals Against Average), with 1.95. Grubauer’s 14.5 GSAA (Goals Saved Above Average) was sixth overall. His .922% save percentage put him eighth in the league among goaltenders who had played 20 games or more. He was also the league leader in shutouts, alongside Islanders netminder Semyon Varlamov, recording seven over the duration of the season.
For the first time in his career, Grubauer was a Vezina Trophy finalist. That spoke volumes about his performance on the ice. Marc-Andre Fleury took home the hardware (along with the William M. Jennings Trophy), but Grubauer earned the most third-place votes.
In Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, he was pretty solid. Colorado swept the St. Louis Blues, and Philipp ended the series with a .936 save percentage and 1.77 GAA. Unfortunately, things started to collapse for the Avs in Round 2 against Vegas. Winning the first two games, Grubauer had an outstanding performance. However, in the final four games against VGK, he let in 16 goals, and his teammates were unable to Colorado’s deficit at the other end of the ice.