Player evaluation: Ersberg

ERIK ERSBERG
This season: 11 games, 4-3-2 record, 2.40 goals-against average, .906 save percentage.
The good: Ersberg had a rough start — he allowed four goals in three of his first four appearances — but after that, he was rather solid. In his final seven appearances of the season, Ersberg allowed a total of eight goals in 17 periods of action, despite sometimes going weeks between appearances. Much to his credit, Ersberg remained quiet, and avoided creating a controversy, when he got infrequent work and when Jonathan Bernier came in and drew significant praise.
The bad: Deserved or not, Ersberg simply lost the trust of Terry Murray early in the season, particularly after his first start of the season, when he allowed four goals in a 4-2 loss to the Rangers on Oct. 14. After that game, Murray publicly said that he regretted not starting Jonathan Quick, and said that he had revised the goalie plan he had drawn up before for season. For Ersberg, that meant a severe reduction in workload. He wouldn’t be seen in a game for almost an entire month.
Going forward: Ersberg has one season remaining on his contract. Quick is coming off a franchise record-setting season and the presumption is that Bernier is ready for the NHL. Where does that leave Ersberg? Likely fighting for his NHL life in training camp. Or perhaps he could be included as part of a bigger trade? It’s easy to forget that Ersberg, over parts of three NHL seasons, does have a .910 save percentage, which is far from shabby, particularly for a goalie who gets infrequent work.