Organization Still Has Plenty Of Confidence In Adin Hill While Major Portion Of Fan Base Lost It

When the Golden Knights were down 3-1 in the series to the Edmonton Oilers, we ran a poll on our Twitter account asking who the fans believed should start Game 5. An incredible 33%, literally one-third of the 3,865 respondents, picked someone other than Adin Hill.

While he lost a good portion of the fan base, Hill never lost the faith and confidence of his head coach or goalie coach.

I have lots of confidence in Adin. He’s proven he can play under pressure. He now proved this year that he could handle a workload of what we want for our number one. We’ve talked about this, there’s the odd Shesterkin, the 60 guy, but most of them are in the 50s. Stayed healthy. A lot of goalies’ numbers are down in the playoffs because of the amount of shots that actually get to the net. -Bruce Cassidy

Hill’s postseason was rocky, to say the least. He walked away with a -4.2 goals saved above expected in 11 starts, the second-worst goalie in the playoffs ahead of only Connor Hellebuyck (-4.7). However, he shut the Oilers out for 70 minutes in Game 5 before allowing the game-winning OT goal, and he allowed two or fewer goals in three of the six games vs. Minnesota, all VGK wins.

Hill’s overall postseason statistics remain excellent, sporting a 17-12 record, a .917 save percentage, and a 2.41 goals against average. His numbers this year, though, were less than stellar with a .887 save percentage, 2.93 goals against average, and seven of 11 games with at least three goals allowed (he had allowed 3 or more in 8 of his first 18 playoff starts).

I felt like both series, there’s definitely a couple goals here and there that I’d want back. I guess probably every goalie in the league would say that over the course of a series. But yeah, I felt like kind of in the big games, I did step up my play a bit. Obviously disappointed with how it ended, and I wish we were still playing today. But yeah, it’s something to look back on and think about over the summer and work to be better next year. -Adin Hill

Cassidy admitted he believes the team needs more out of their starting goalie moving forward.

Did Adin need to be better in the series? Yes, just like a lot of guys. I think when Adin leaves here, he should own his game and say, hey, next year I’m going to be this much better. We didn’t lose because Adin Hill, I’m not putting that, I’m just saying in general, that was a piece of the game that needed to be better at times. -Cassidy

Hill’s mega 6-year $37.5 million contract extension has not even begun. So, his time as the starting goalie of the Golden Knights has just gotten underway. He managed to stay healthy for an entire season for the first time in his career playing 50 regular season games plus 11 playoff games.

If anything, his role may even increase moving forward with the uncertainty behind him in the Vegas system as it stands. Ilya Samsonov is set to become a free agent and there’s essentially no chance he returns as the backup next season. That leaves 25-year-old Akira Schmid as the presumptive backup after posting one of the worst statistical seasons in the AHL. VGK could look to add another veteran backup in free agency and/or could give Carl Lindbom a look in training camp.

But no matter what happens this summer, it’s Adin Hill’s goal to start the season, most likely to end it, and probably for the foreseeable future. One-third of the fan base is going to have to come to grips with it.