Nathan Lawson 2010-11 SEASON REVIEW:

Nathan Lawson
Date Of birth: September 29, 1983 (2010-11 Season Age: 27)
Place Of birth: Calgary, Alta., Canada
Height: 6-2
Weight: 200
Catching Hand: Left
NHL Season: Rookie
Drafted by: Undrafted
Acquired: Signed by the Islanders in 2008

2010-11 Season Stats:
New York Islanders  NHL:  GP: 10  GAA: 4.06 W: 1  L: 4  OTL: 2  SAVE %:0.893
Bridgeport Sound Tigers  AHL:  GP: 16  GAA: 2.90 W: 6  L: 5  OTL: 4  SAVE %: 0.913

Short-Term Status:
His contract is expiring this off-season and in my opinion he was unimpressive this year so I am not sure if he will be brought back. Even if he had a great year, you really have to remember that the Islanders already have DP, Montoya, and possibly Nabokov on one-way deals which means there is no room for him on the NHL level. Then when you consider Kevin Poulin and Mikko Koskinen (and possibly Anders Nilsson), who are all serious prospects for the future, are going to be splitting time in Bridgeport it opens up the possibility that there might not be room for him even at the AHL level.

Long-Term Status: 
With the Isles, he doesn't have a long-term future but there is a chance he may be a solid depth goaltender for an NHL team. He has been good at lower levels so I could see a team that is shallow in their goaltending depth, taking a shot at him. But, I would not be surprised if he heads to Europe if no NHL team bites. 


Contract Status:

LENGTH: 1 YEAR(S)     VALUE: $500,000     TYPE: STANDARD     EXPIRY STATUS: UFA (2011) ****CONTRACT EXPIRES THIS OFF-SEASON****
SEASON	AHL SALARY	NHL SALARY	P. BONUSES	S. BONUS	CAP HIT
2010-11	$55,000	$500,000	$0	$10,000	$500,000

Review:
He has had a long career bouncing around in the lower levels before finally at the ripe age of 27, earning his first NHL start. He had some nice games but, all in all was nothing special. It was a nice story, and its always heartwarming to see a guy finally achieve his dream. Unfortunately, he did not capitalize on the opportunity handed to him. He saw a decent amount of games with 10, but put up unimpressive numbers with a 4.09 GAA which was 2nd lowest of all 6 goalies that played for the Isles this season. He was only credited with one win, which was one less than that of Mikko Koskinen (ouch), placed him with the least on the team. I found it very telling that he was waived by the club on February 26th despite the injuries to DiPietro and Poulin. Although he was constantly splitting time between the NHL and AHL, he ended up playing 16 games for the Sound Tigers and had a 6-5-4 record. Unfortunately his actual play was a lot worse than his record down there. His goals against average this year for Bridgeport was 2.90 which was .38 worse than lasts season's, and .84 worse than 2 years ago (rookie year in the AHL). His save percentage was down as well as he finished the season with a 0.913 % which is 0.009 % less than last year and 0.014 % less than two years ago. This season was filled with many opportunities for Lawson to push his career to the next level and unfortunately it looks as though he blew it. 
Season Grade (A+ to F-): C-
He was below my expectations and I know some might ask why I expected him to do better in the NHL than he did. If you watched him at all during his rookie season in the AHL, you'd understand why. Unfortunately, in the NHL and AHL he looked like a completely different goaltender and that's not a good thing. Hopefully another NHL team takes a chance on him because he is a good guy.

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