Questions about Golden Knights' goalie situation will continue

Another offseason, another Golden Knights goalie controversy.

The magnitude of this potential situation in the crease might not have the same seismic results as Marc-André Fleury being unceremoniously traded last summer, but long-term ramifications could be felt.

As the Golden Knights sent several players to the podium for an end-of-season news conference Tuesday at City National Arena, one notable team member did not speak: Robin Lehner.

Vegas’ No. 1 goalie, who has not spoken publicly since April 9, underwent shoulder surgery Wednesday with no timetable set for his return. Lehner played in only 10 of the Golden Knights’ final 34 games due to shoulder and knee injuries. He last played April 20.

Lehner was not at City National to tell his side of the story. The organization attempted to tell its own.

How we got here

Lehner started for the Knights on the first leg of a three-game Western Canada road trip April 12 in Vancouver, a 5-4 overtime loss. He returned to Las Vegas the next day to tend to a family issue and was not available in the final two stops on the road trip, Calgary and Edmonton.

Coach Pete DeBoer started Lehner April 18 against the New Jersey Devils. Given what was told to him, DeBoer said, Lehner’s health was not an issue.

“I can tell you if I thought Robin was compromised in discussion with Robin or our medical team, I wouldn’t have started him,” DeBoer said. “I wouldn’t have jeopardized our season or the athlete. So, I made the decision to start him based on the information I had.”

Lehner allowed two questionable third-period goals in a 3-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils, with DeBoer saying postgame, “You’re looking for your guy to be better than the one at the other end, and that wasn’t the case tonight.”

DeBoer went back to Lehner two nights later against the Washington Capitals, despite saying Lehner hadn’t looked comfortable against Vancouver or New Jersey. He stopped 12 of 13 shots in the first period — one goal was overturned due to an offsides challenge — and was then pulled in favor of backup goalie Logan Thompson. Vegas won 4-3 in overtime.

After the game, when asked if Lehner was pulled due to health, DeBoer put the onus on his No.1 goaltender, saying, “He’s healthy, he’s fresh, he has a lot of energy.”

“I started him, but in the back of my mind, I’d known he hadn’t looked comfortable,” DeBoer said Tuesday.

DeBoer clarified that “healthy” was the wrong word to use when describing Lehner. He added that he wanted to wait until the end of the first period in the Capitals game to pull Lehner because he didn’t want to embarrass him.

“I don’t take pulling the goalie lightly. It’s not something I like to do, but I felt our season was on the line. That was our thinking, ‘put LT in,’ and we won the game,” DeBoer said. “That’s all the facts.”

Surgery timeline

The Golden Knights said Lehner was taking consecutive maintenance days on April 22-23. General manager Kelly McCrimmon said he met with Lehner those days and said the goaltender was fine, until Lehner changed his mind April 24 and opted for surgery.

Lehner was the backup that day against San Jose.

Asked why the team didn’t use an emergency exception to call up Jiri Patera from Henderson — a provision the league and the players’ association created in December — McCrimmon said Lehner needed to be on the roster to activate forward William Carrier from long-term injured reserve.

Asked for further elaboration, McCrimmon said, “Just trust me. Robin needed to be available for Sunday for Carrier to come off LTIR.”

“Please don’t paint it that we put the player at great risk by doing what he did on Sunday,” McCrimmon added. “The fact that he needed surgery wasn’t a big surprise. It was a matter of when the repair was going to be done. There was no risk.”

McCrimmon said he was not sure if Lehner was upset with how DeBoer managed the Washington game, and that topic did not come up during exit meetings.

“Lenny’s a 12-year pro, and he’s dealt with lots of things in his life,” DeBoer said. “I think he can manage this.”

What’s next?

Lehner has three years remaining on a five-year deal at $5 million average annual value. Signs point to him being ready for training camp, but the surgery Wednesday was his second shoulder procedure since signing his extension in 2020.

There has been no indication that Lehner would request a trade, but extenuating factors could be in play if he wanted surgery but was told to hold off.

That, of course, will remain unknown until Lehner chooses to speak on the situation. He’s re-activated his Twitter account after going dark April 3, so this could be one worth monitoring.

DeBoer and McCrimmon said they had full confidence in Lehner to be their goalie to fulfill the Golden Knights Stanley Cup aspirations.

“I have no doubt about Robin Lehner’s ability,” DeBoer said. “We’ve seen him at an elite level what he’s capable of doing. That’s why I started him.

“If Robin Lehner wanted to play because he felt in his mind he could help, maybe he knew he was compromised but didn’t think it would be an issue, told us what we wanted to hear in order to get that start, then credit to Robin. That shows his gumption in wanting to be there.”

Meanwhile, backup goalie Laurent Brossoit is having a procedure done for an injury DeBoer calls a “complicated injury, I can’t even begin to describe it.” Brossoit was well enough to dress but not play until he was placed on the team’s long-term injured reserve list on April 12. He did not play in the final 20 games.

“He’s just starting to feel comfortable with the diagnosis and what’s going on,” DeBoer said. “Like anything, it’s kind of wavered from feeling good, ‘I think I can do this,’ to, ‘no, I can’t.’ These aren’t clear-cut injuries.”

Brossoit signed a two-year contract last offseason at an average annual value of $2.325 million.

That leaves Thompson, the 2021 AHL Goalie of the Year in Henderson who almost saved the Golden Knights’ season. In his appearances with Vegas, Thompson posted a 10-5-3 won-loss record with a 2.68 goals-against average and .914 save percentage.

DeBoer did not commit to what the goalie situation would look like this summer, given the unknown timelines on Brossoit and Lehner.

Thompson, at the least, has earned an opportunity to compete for the backup position, given if Brossoit is healthy by camp and if he’s on the roster. If the Golden Knights feel Thompson is ready for that role, they could trade Brossoit this summer and alleviate some of their salary cap issues.

“The kid’s playing at Brock University in Ontario four, five years ago. To put it in perspective, you’re playing the Summerlin Softball League and four years later playing Major League Baseball,” DeBoer said of Thompson. “It’s an unbelievable story.”

Danny Webster can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Danny on Twitter at twitter.com/DannyWebster21.