Goaltender Garret Sparks was just assigned to the Chicago Wolves as he’s still a work in progress with the Vegas Golden Knights.
Due to health issues with Malcolm Subban and personal issues with Marc-Andre Fleury, goaltender Garret Sparks was called up to be an emergency backup for the Vegas Golden Knights this week. Mostly known for being a good goaltender with their AHL team the Chicago Wolves, Sparks hasn’t gotten any playing time during his callup. Now that he’s been assigned to the Wolves again, is there hope that down the road he can turn into a decent starter for the Golden Knights?
In the grand scheme of things, Sparks has his work cut out for him as he’s a work in progress for the Golden Knights. Even though he’s made a name for himself in the AHL over the past few years, Sparks needs to work on his goals against average. He’s currently averaging 2.45 in the minors but in the pros, 4.38 in his one game played so far this season. This is a key area to improve if he’s ever to earn a starting nod for the Golden Knights in the future.
For now, Sparks will be playing the back-and-forth game of being an emergency backup and spending the majority of his playing time in the AHL. He might even be called up again this week as a backup to Subban since the team is off on Wednesday but hit the ice again on Thursday for a matchup on the road against the New York Islanders.
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Fleury might not return for this matchup as he continues to deal with the unfortunate death of his father. If he doesn’t suit up on Thursday, Subban will more than likely get the start again as he’s been doing very well protecting the net with Sparks as his backup.
As always in cases like this, Sparks would need to just sit tight and wait for an opportunity to pop up. Only then will he be able to make his case to head coach Gerard Gallant to see if he can get more opportunities in the future as he’s at the bottom of the depth chart.
If he can show he’s improved his GAA and boosts up his saves percentage to consistently be in the .900 range and higher, he will prove the potential is there. For now, however, Sparks has a lot to prove before Gallant has the utmost confidence in him to get the job done.
Until then, Sparks is on borrowed time in the pros and will continue honing his craft in the minors. Once Fleury returns and heads back to his starting role, Subban will be his main backup and that’ll be what the Golden Knights work with for the rest of the season. Sparks will get callups here and there as he has but until he’s able to improve those two key metrics and put it all together, he’ll continue being on the outside looking in.