The Rest Of The Goaltending Market

Most teams are set between the pipes heading into next season but there is still likely to be a little bit of movement at that position in the weeks to come as training camps get closer.  With that in mind, here is an overview of the goaltending market.

Free Agent Options

Kari Lehtonen – His final season in Dallas resembled a lot of his tenure there.  Lehtonen had some good moments but also some particularly rough ones at inopportune times including down the stretch when Ben Bishop was injured.  After being a starter for the majority of his career, the 34-year-old is now going to have to settle for a backup job at best.

Steve Mason – The Jets were hoping that Mason would improve on his prior year numbers with Philadelphia and give youngster Connor Hellebuyck a serious run for the starting role.  That didn’t happen.  He wound up dealing with concussion troubles and struggled when he was healthy which resulted in him only playing in 11 games.  He was dealt in a cap-clearing move to Montreal last month and was subsequently bought out.

Ondrej Pavelec – After spending most of 2016-17 in the minors, Pavelec was the backup for the Rangers last season and he didn’t exactly make the most of his opportunity, posting a 3.05 GAA and a .910 SV% in 19 games.  If he wants to stay in North America, he may have to sign with a team that has a starting job at the AHL level available and then try to make the most of any recalls he gets.

Trade Options

Craig Anderson (Ottawa) – The Sens have been shopping Anderson following his trade request which came out last month.  However, the 37-year-old is coming off a rough campaign and is now in the first year of a two-year extension he signed last season, one that carries a $4.75MM cap hit.  With there only being backup slots available, it’s likely that Ottawa will have to wait until injuries strike somewhere midseason as it’s unlikely that they’ll be willing to retain any amount of consequence to facilitate a move.

Anton Forsberg (Chicago) – When he was given the starting job following what was believed to be a concussion for Corey Crawford, Forsberg struggled to the point where management felt it was necessary to get a more proven player behind Crawford.  That’s why they moved quickly to sign Cam Ward and in doing so, shifted Forsberg to the third-string role.  Head coach Joel Quenneville said recently that they won’t carry three goalies which appears to make the 25-year-old the odd man out.  He has one year left on his deal with a $750K cap hit and will be eligible for restricted free agency next summer.

Al Montoya (Edmonton) – The Oilers brought in Montoya midseason to try to shore up their backup position and while he helped, he didn’t do enough to instil confidence from management as in May, the team moved quickly to bring in Mikko Koskinen from the KHL which has relegated the 33-year-old to third-string status.  Edmonton could conceivably keep him around as insurance but they already have three goalies signed that are likely to contend for AHL time so they may want to move Montoya to alleviate the logjam.  He has one year left at a cap hit just over $1.06MM and will be a UFA next July.

Calvin Pickard/Garret Sparks (Toronto) – With the season Curtis McElhinney had, he’s a safe bet to return as Toronto’s backup.  That leaves both Pickard (26) and Sparks (25) in some limbo.  Both are coming off very strong seasons in the minors and require waivers to return to the Marlies next season.  A team that thinks one of these players has some upside may be willing to look at one as a backup; in Pickard’s case, he has been one in the past with Colorado.  Pickard is set to make $800K next year and will be a UFA after that while Sparks checks in at $675K and will be an RFA next summer.

Potential Interested Teams

Washington dealt backup Philipp Grubauer to Colorado back at the draft and they are presently set to use Pheonix Copley, a veteran of two NHL games, as their backup.  A big reason for that is the salary cap as Copley makes the league minimum but if one of the veterans is willing to accept a similar salary, they would be better suited going with a more proven option between the pipes.

Winnipeg added Laurent Brossoit early in free agency with the expectation that he would be the new backup for Hellebuyck.  However, since they weren’t able to keep center Paul Stastny around, they will have more salary cap flexibility than they were initially expecting.  Considering that Brossoit struggled considerably in Edmonton last season, they would be wise to consider adding another option between the pipes.

The Rangers currently have youngster Alexandar Georgiev positioned to be Henrik Lundqvist’s backup next season.  While that makes some sense given their commitment to go younger, Georgiev only has one year in North America under his belt and is still waiver exempt.  From a development standpoint, it would make sense for him to play more in AHL Hartford than simply spell Lundqvist every fourth or fifth game.  A stopgap veteran or one of the potential waiver-bound players would allow Georgiev to develop a little more which would make a lot of sense for them to do.

Calgary has a pair of youngsters set to battle for the backup role in David Rittich and Jon Gillies but both struggled down the stretch last season when Mike Smith was injured.  The Flames, who have some more space to work with following the buyout of winger Troy Brouwer, may be better served looking for a more proven insurance policy.

Most of the goaltending tandems for 2018-19 are already in place but between now and the start of the season, there is still bound to be a little more movement at that position in the weeks to come.