Vegas Golden Knights Report Card: Malcolm Subban

There is a long wait between now and October when meaningful hockey returns to Sin City. So, to keep you entertained in the meantime, we’ll be releasing our Vegas Golden Knights Report Cards for 2018-19.

We got things started on Tuesday by assessing Marc-Andre Fleury’s year for the Vegas Golden Knights, and today we continue our look at the goalies by turning our attention to Malcolm Subban.

Malcolm Subban: Grade C-

It was an up and down year for Malcolm Subban in 2018-19 with the netminder enduring his fair share of peaks and valleys. It is a big summer for the 25-year-old who enters the offseason as a restricted free agent.

His season

You have to feel for backup netminders in the NHL sometimes. Mere spectators for large chunks of the season, they are then thrown into the action and expected to produce the goods straightaway.

As we’ve learnt throughout sporting history, it can be hard for certain athletes to remain sharp and in-tune with their game right away after a period sat twiddling their thumbs to then enter the thick of battle.

That was certainly the case for Subban who blew hot and cold in 2018-19, unstoppable on some nights but susceptible to letting the odd weak goal go past him on other occasions.

For every time the 24th overall pick in the 2012 NHL pick went on an absolute tear, as he did when he won seven of nine starts in the latter stages of the year, there were also periods where the 25-year-old struggled to put it all together, complying an awful .885 save percentage during one particular woeful stretch.

That inconsistency marred Subban’s season and the lack of consistent ice time and starts clearly hurt his progress and performance levels on some nights.

However, there is enough of a sample size to suggest that Subban is a more than decent backup in the NHL, and he’s perhaps got the potential to go on and morph into a solid starter for a rebuilding team at some stage.

It was always going to be a hard task for anyone who backed up Marc-Andre Fleury, especially when the three-time Stanley Cup champion has been playing at the peak of his powers for much of his stay in Vegas so far.

Subban has had to be patient and he only made 21 appearances in 2018-19, 20 of those as a starter, recording one shutout and posting a 2.93 goals against average and a .902 save percentage.

He failed to see any action in the postseason and that’s why it is important to apply the eye test when evaluating Subban’s season, because the stats won’t always tell the full story given the small sample size of games we’ve got to go on.

Overall, it was a frustrating season for Subban who would no doubt have expected to see a lot more action. However, he showed in flashes that he’s more than good enough to stick at the NHL level, as perfectly backed up by the stunning glove save he made on the Calgary Flames’ Johnny Gaudreau in March, 2019.

Why the grade

Consistency is the main reason we’ve given Malcolm Subban a C-.

As already mentioned, some nights he was simply outstanding but on other nights he suffered lapses in concentration and gave up too many soft goals that he would want back.

Again, it can’t be easy to be dormant for long stretches and then be expected to be immediately dialed back in once you are given an opportunity to impress.

But that is what happens when you sit behind an elite goaltender in the ilk of Marc-Andre Fleury and it is something Subban will have to get used to again in 2019-20 should Fleury continue to play at the peak of his powers.

Subban will be a restricted free agent this summer and he now has the chance to showcase his talents when given the opportunity in order to earn a starting job elsewhere once he hits free agency a year from now.

But, for the time being, the middle Subban sibling can continue to learn his craft under the guidance of Fleury on a team that is firmly in the hunt for a Stanley Cup.

The numbers

Games: 21

Starts: 20

Wins: 8

Losses: 10

Overtime Losses: 2

Shutouts: 1

Shots Against: 612

Goals Against: 60

Goals Against Average: 2.93

Save Percentage: .902

Minutes: 1,227