With Henrik Lundqvist still signed for another year and Igor Shesterkin waiting in the wings while dominating the AHL this season, that has led some to speculate that the Rangers could wind up moving fellow netminder Alexandar Georgiev. However, as Rick Carpinello of The Athletic points out (subscription required), Georgiev’s trade value may be lower than it seems on the surface.
With a .903 SV% this season, teams aren’t likely going to be looking at him as their starter of the future while those numbers would be a downgrade on quite a few backups around the league as well. While he’s only 23 and there’s still some upside, that’s going to limit the number of suitors and likely reduce his trade value to the point where it doesn’t make much sense to move him even if it does increase the risk of a goalie logjam in the near future.
More from the Metropolitan:
- While the Capitals would certainly like to add to their roster, GM Brian MacLellan acknowledged to NBC Sports Washington’s J.J. Regan that it’s going to be hard for them to add anyone, let alone an impact player this season. Washington has been tap dancing around the salary cap all season long and with Carl Hagelin’s looming return from LTIR, they’re about to be in an even tougher situation again where they’ll likely only carry the minimum number of players on the roster. Unless MacLellan is willing to part with a core player or a core piece is injured for the rest of the season, don’t expect many, if any, changes between now and the end of the year.
- Nick Leddy’s absence from the Islanders lineup appears to be a short-lived one. Newsday’s Andrew Gross notes (Twitter link) that the defenseman is expected to return to the lineup tonight after missing Wednesday’s game due to a lower-body injury. He’ll likely take the place of Noah Dobson in the lineup; the junior-aged defender is sitting at just seven games played so far this season which means the first year of his entry-level deal has not been burned yet.