The Anaheim Ducks made a move to shore up their goaltending on Monday, signing Swedish star Viktor Fasth to a one-year deal worth $1 million.
Fasth posted a .931 save percentage and a 2.12 goals-against average in 2011-12, playing for AIK of the Swedish Elite League. Those numbers were good enough to earn Fasth a second consecutive Honken Trophy as the top goaltender in the SEL. The last player to win back-to-back Honken Trophies was New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who won the award following the 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons.
Fasth also played for his home country at the 2012 IIHF World Championship, going 4-2-0 with a .902 save percentage and a 2.34 goals-against average. He posted shutouts in the preliminary round against both Latvia and Italy.
Fasth is just five months younger than Lundqvist, who is a finalist for three major awards at next month's NHL Awards Show in Las Vegas (Hart Trophy, Vezina Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award). He's projected to start the 2012-13 season as the primary backup to Ducks netminder Jonas Hiller - Dan Ellis is not expected to be re-signed - but that status could certainly change. Lundqvist, after all, started his first season with the Rangers as the backup to Kevin Weekes, but that certainly changed in a hurry as Lundqvist began his rapid ascension to the upper echelon of NHL goaltenders.
It would certainly be premature to predict that Fasth could follow in Lundqvist's footsteps, but the Ducks should be open to new possibilities in net. Hiller posted a career-low .909 save percentage in 2011-12, going 29-30-12 in net for Anaheim. That ranked him 30th among qualified NHL goaltenders, while his 2.57 goals-against average ranked him 26th.
There will certainly be a step up in difficulty coming from the SEL to the NHL, and the move from an international-size ice surface (200' by 100') to the NHL sheet (200' by 85') will result in new angles for Fasth to adjust to. Nonetheless, the Ducks have certainly shored up their presence in net with the addition of an international veteran.
