It’s not often that a player with NHL experience accepts a contract offer from an ECHL team, but we have seen a few players who some say were a “last-ditch effort” to find their way back to the NHL in an extended stay with their new team. Goaltender Zane McIntyre now finds himself in that situation, as he signed a standard player contract with the Tahoe Knight Monsters today after Jordan Papirny was recalled by the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights. McIntyre’s return to North America after a year in Germany may have caused some teams to look past his name when looking for goaltending help, but McIntyre has never been afraid to work hard to earn his spot on the roster. The Knight Monsters will offer that.
Zane McIntyre hasn’t spent much time on NHL ice surfaces, and his eight-game totals of a 3.97 GAA and .858 save percentage aren’t entirely accurate for the type of goaltender McIntyre is. He was outstanding in the NCAA with North Dakota, where he played 92 games, posting a 2.10 GAA and a .926 save percentage. His percentage is a little higher when you look at his body of work, but it’s clear he can stop pucks.
His AHL numbers should be taken into account, and we can point to his 153-97-45 record as the primary reason he could be a good addition to Tahoe. He has posted a losing record in only one of his nine seasons in the AHL, and that was in 2022-23 with the Iowa Wild. Statistically, that was his worst season across the board in the AHL, so his consistency between the pipes when it comes to winning should be highlighted here. He wins hockey games at the AHL level.
His save percentage of 2.61 GAA and .908 in the AHL should have had a few teams calling his agent about a potential AHL job, but that didn’t happen. McIntyre went 15-12-0 with the Straubing Tigers in the DEL last season, and his 2.67 GAA wasn’t far off his AHL numbers. However, his .889 save percentage was lower than what he posted in the AHL, and it was the third straight season in which he failed to reach the .900 level for save percentage. That may be due to the way the Iowa Wild play, but his work in the DEL yielded the same results.
What can be deduced from this analysis?
Well, the 33-year-old is likely looking for a place where he can still get a shot at an AHL job, and getting started in the Vegas Golden Knights system isn’t a bad idea. Adin Hill is currently in Vegas week in and week out, and Carl Lindbom is supporting Akira Schmid. Radioactive Carter Hart hasn’t seen a puck yet this season, so he’s far from NHL ready, and both Cameron Whitehead and Jesper Vikman play in Henderson. With Jordan Papirny recalled by Henderson today, that leaves goaltender Zach Borgiel with the Knight Monsters as their lone netminder, and he hasn’t scored a snap at the crease at the professional hockey level.
In short, Tahoe needed a netminder who had some experience, and Zane McIntyre certainly has that. We’ll see how McIntyre fares in the ECHL behind the Knight Monsters’ defense, but Tahoe hopes he can catch fire quickly to help the Knight Monsters climb the standings in the ECHL’s Mountain Division. I suspect his first test will be tomorrow against the division-leading Idaho Steelheads, so McIntyre will be thrown into the fire almost immediately.
There’s no telling how long Zane McIntyre will be with the Tahoe Knight Monsters in the future, but his two-game ECHL totals will have more games added after he signed today in Nevada. He is 0-1-0 in those two games with the Atlanta Gladiators dating back to the 2016-17 season, so we’ll see if the Grand Forks native can go big and turn into the McIntyre Monster for the Knight Monsters!
Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!
#McIntyre #Monster