It was no surprise that goalie Robin Lehner is the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy nominee for the New York Islanders, but it gives us a chance to look back at how far he is come in less than a year.
The former Sabre and Senator, once a highly touted prospect with Ottawa, was almost a free agent afterthought last summer after the Sabres decided against issuing him a qualifying offer. Publicly it was clear he’d struggled — on bad teams — but privately there was much going on.
With most free agent goalies off the market, the Islanders scooped Lehner up on July 3 on a one-year deal, a low-risk move on a player who still possessed impressive talent and would have a chance to nurture it under completely new management and goaltending coaches on Long Island.