Jackets sign Dan LaCosta

by Mike MacLean on Jul 28, 2009 7:11 PM EDT Comment 4 comments

Cru_090120_hb_lacosta_medium

From Puck Rakers:

The Blue Jackets have re-signed minor-league goaltender Dan LaCosta to a one-year, two-way contract. He'll likely battle Kevin LaLande for the No. 1 job with the Jackets' top affiliate in Syracuse.

LaCosta, a third-round pick (No. 93) in 2004, was a restricted free agent. He was 2-0 with a .950 save percentage and 1.54 goals-against average in three games with the Blue Jackets this season, including a stirring, 28-save win over San Jose on Feb. 7.

For the first time since Pascal Leclaire was duking it out with Karl Goehring in 02/03 and 03/04 the Crunch have a solid two-man tandem in net. Lalande was acquired at last year's trade deadline from the Calgary Flames for a fourth round pick. LaCosta was awesome for the Jackets during a brief stint with the big club last season, including shutting out the Avalanche in his second NHL start. Lalande is viewed as a high-end goaltender as well, so it will be interesting to see the two battle for the starter's job in Syracuse and the eventual callup to the bigs. It's likely both will see time in the Columbus net at some point this upcoming season.

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1 Year?

Could this mean an exit from the organization for him, or is it pretty much in the norm for the guys that are borderline between the AHL/NHL to get small deals like this?

by BLAZER_FAN_199 on Jul 28, 2009 11:05 PM EDT reply actions

what i don't get is...

they have Garon for 2 years who WILL back up Mason. why would they just sign him for one year. what they should have done was sign him for 3 years that way by the time garon’s contract is up Lacosta has 1 year left of back up experience to see if he is legit or those two games were just flukes.

by FFMorgan on Jul 29, 2009 12:24 AM EDT reply actions

One Year

My guess is that the one year deal was agreed on by both sides because of the battle for starting duties in Syracuse. Should an injury or ineffectiveness befall Garon (God forbid Mase wind up on the IR) in the next two years, the starter will get the call-up.

By signing a one year deal, the Jackets and Lacosta have nothing to worry about should Lalande win the role. If Lacosta is effective, but is still outshined by Lalande, he will be free to sign with a team that will feature him in the AHL or even use him as an NHL backup. If the season goes middle of the road, Lacosta can re-sign at reduced price. If he wins the Crunch job outright, he can ask for more from the Jackets and go elsewhere if they decide not to pay, because they’ll still have Lalande.

All in all, I like the signing because… well, I like Dan Lacosta as an option to relieve some of the stress from Mason down the road.

by Dan J on Jul 29, 2009 8:25 AM EDT reply actions

Agreed. This puts the organization in the best possible position over the next 1-2 years, as well as LaCosta, should Lalande prove to be the better goalie.

Kind of unfortunate for LaCosta since he’s worked so hard and you’d like to see him succeed in the Jackets sweater – this guy went from being a player who most thought wouldn’t make it out of the AHL, to a guy who is almost a surefire future NHL back-up. But in the business sense for both Dan and the Jackets, this 1-year deal makes sense.

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by Andy Newman on Jul 29, 2009 10:58 AM EDT up reply actions

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