In parts of 16 NHL seasons, Alex Goligoski never was the biggest star on the ice. He was a high draft pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins – second round, 61st overall in 2004 – but Goligoski quietly went out, night after night, and proved himself to be the genuine article, a bona fide talent who has persevered to the point he’ll be playing his 1,000th game Thursday night when his Minnesota Wild team hosts the Vancouver Canucks.
Sometimes, when a milestone like this one is reached, we don’t take a moment to truly take in what an accomplishment it is. Only 370 players in NHL history have played more than Goligoski. Think of what that means – how many nights he was probably banged-up and bruised, or how narrowly he avoided catastrophic injury during any given game.
Not only has Goligoski remained fast enough, smart enough and determined enough to get to 1,000 games – he’s been part of a Stanley Cup-winning team, and he’s amassed 374 regular-season assists and 459 points, an average of 37.7 points per season.
Again, those aren’t Hockey Hall of Fame numbers on offense, but the 37-year-old Goligoski has played for four franchises (Pittsburgh, Dallas, Arizona and Minnesota) because he’s a reliable, mobile D-man who won’t break the bank on the salary cap front.
There is always going to be a place in hockey’s top league for a player who has Goligoski’s attributes. He’s not going to lead your team in ice time or height (he’s 5-foot-11 and averaging 15:06 thus far this year with the Wild), but a head coach can trust that he won’t be burned in the minutes he gives you, and his positional awareness makes up for physical bulk.
Goligoski doesn’t make a lot of headlines as an individual, but at some level, that’s the player you want on your side. He’s safe and sound, and at $2 million per season for this year and the 2023-24 season, he’s giving you veteran calm and experience at a very reasonable pay rate.
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Goligoski’s achievement also stands out because he survived five seasons with a struggling team in the Coyotes. Arizona made the playoffs only once in that span. It would’ve been easy for him to sour on his time with the Yotes. He’d already made more than $25 million before signing a five-year, $27.375-million contract with Arizona in 2016. We’ve seen players coast into their thirties – or struggle to maintain their peak levels – after signing that one big contract, but Goligoski was never one of them.
This is why, when Goligoski’s Coyotes contract expired, Minnesota GM Bill Guerin signed him to a one-year, $5-million deal. Guerin is interested in winning now, and the addition of Goligoski has given the Wild a deep group of blueliners. Even as he heads toward his late-thirties, Goligoski has something to offer. If he’s destined to finish off these next couple of years as a third-pairing guy, that’s nothing to put him down for. Father Time eventually makes all of us into part-timers, and then, puts us on the sidelines for good.
Fortunately for Goligoski, those days are still a little while away. He’s still a big-leaguer, still chasing his Cup dreams, still playing on a team that has major expectations on it, and, rarest of all, he’s playing in his home state. Think of how few hockey players can say they’ve been in that position at age 37. Goligoski may have been gifted with good luck health-wise, but he’s a thousand-gamer not because of luck. He’s earned his place in an extremely selective club. Congrats to him on the feat.
