Lehtonen was drafted #2 overrall in the 2002 draft, so of course expectations were pretty high. Injuries prevented him from reaching his full potential so far.

He shows signs of brilliance but does lose concentration and lets up soft goals. With poor defenses in front of him he played pretty solid…with a career save percentage of 91.2% to put that in perspective…Martin Brodeur’s is 91.4%, Roberto Luongo’s is 91.9%, Cam Ward’s is 90.5%.

Save percentage is a tricky stat, it really leaves out the quality of the shots faced. Kari’s goals against average per game is 2.87 compared to Brodeur’s 2.21, Luongo’s 2.55, and Ward’s 2.80. This also is a very tricky stat, but when you compare it to the save percentage stat you are left with the obvious…..Kari saw many more shots come his way than the others.

The Thrashers style was and uptempo, offense first style for all of Kari’s time in net. So, he didn’t have the benefit of a Devil’s style D in front of him, he had to constantly be under full concentration and on his game to be ready for the barrage of shots that was surely headed his way.

For the most part, when he was healthy, he was great for us. But he has had chronic back and groin injuries, injuries that rarely go away 100%. So, with years invested in relying on him to stay healthy, it appears management is prepared to part ways and go with someone who they can depend on to stay relatively injury free. Even though a healthy Kari is still the best netminder we have on the roster. (Even though Moose is playing REALLY well right now).

At the town hall, Waddell all but said it would be Lehtonen. It’s not really much of a rumor anymore…