Several NHL teams are desperately looking for a goaltender at the dawn of the draft, a favorable time for trades.
The New Jersey Devils, Los Angeles Kings, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, Ottawa Senators and Colorado Avalanche wouldn’t pass up on a good, experienced goaltender.
There are just a few on the market: Linus Ullmark in Boston, Jacob Markstrom in Calgary, Juuse Saros in Nashville and John Gibson in Anaheim.
First observation to make: most of the best goalies in the NHL were drafted and developed by their organizations. This is the case of Connor Hellebuyck, Igor Shesterkin, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Thatcher Demko, Juuse Saros, Jeremy Swayman and Ilya Sorokin. Sergei Bobrovsky, acquired on the free agent market for $10 million per season, is a rare exception.
Let’s now look at the important trades to acquire goalkeepers in the last fifteen years. In July 2021, Colorado traded a 2022 first-round pick and young defenseman Conor Timmins for 31-year-old Darcy Kuemper, who only had one year remaining on his contract. Without being extraordinary, Kuemper had a good playoff series and the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup.
The pick given to the Arizona Coyotes therefore fell to 32nd because of this triumph. Timmins is still trying at almost 26 to establish himself in the NHL, but injuries haven’t helped. Kuemper only stayed a year in Denver, before enjoying his full autonomy, but the bet paid off in the short term.
Antti Raanta was a strong backup to Henrik Lundqvist in New York in 2017 when Coyotes GM John Chayka traded away his first-round pick, seventh overall, and a young Tony DeAngelo to get him with center Derek Stepan . Raanta, 28 at the time of the trade, had a big season in Arizona, but injuries caught up with him.
The Rangers did not take advantage of this great opportunity to get their hands on a top player as they drafted Lias Andersson, ahead of Casey Mittelstadt, Owen Tippett, Gabriel Vilardi, Martin Necas and Nick Suzuki, among others. Would the Coyotes have chosen one of those?
The trade might have been wise if Arizona had had a roster ready to compete with the best teams, but Chayka was a little too eager to make his club grow.
The San Jose Sharks also traded a 2016 first-round pick to the Boston Bruins in 2015 to get Martin Jones. He was never considered among the elite, but he gave six good seasons to the powerful Sharks. These reached the Finals in Jones’ first season in California, so the first-round pick was bumped to 31st overall. Boston opted for Trent Frederic.
In 2011, the Colorado Avalanche, arguably the most active goaltending team of the 21st century, traded their 2012 first-round pick for Semyon Varlamov of the Washington Capitals. Varlamov, just 23 and a first-round pick, was stuck behind Braden Holtby at the time. Washington inherited the 12th overall pick and drafted Filip Forsberg, but Varlamov gave the Avalanche a great season.
In 2012, the Blue Jackets pulled off a steal by acquiring 23-year-old Sergei Bobrovsky, a backup behind Ilya Bryzgalov, from the Flyers for a second-round pick and two fourth-round picks. Bobrovsky played seven years in Columbus and won the Vezina with the Blue Jackets in 2013 and 2017.
Robin Lehner cost the Sabers a first-round pick, 21st overall, on June 26, 2015. Lehner was 24 when he was acquired from the Senators. He played three years in Buffalo. We would later learn that he struggled with mental health issues, but he was not bad for the Sabres. This club was nevertheless not equipped to progress in the ranking.
The day after this trade, the new Oilers GM obtained Cam Talbot, 28, for second and third round picks from the Rangers. Talbot was solid for three years in Edmonton, his teammates much less so. But we can talk about a successful bet considering the price.
In short, the goalkeepers’ file will always remain a little complex. A powerful club like the Avalanche or the Maple Leafs can afford to give up a late first round draft pick for a goalie with less than two years left on his contract like Saros, Ullmark or Markstrom.
We do not recommend it to the Kings, the Devils or, especially, the Senators. Instead, we suggest they go fishing for a quality goalkeeper in their mid-twenties stuck behind a number one.
Pierre-Luc Dubois comes first on the list of candidates for a contract buyout, according to TSN analyst Frank Seravalli. Dubois, 25, will average $8.5 million over the next seven years. He had 40 points, including 16 goals, last winter in his first year of contract, after being acquired at a big price for Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kupari and a 2024 second-round pick.
Although GM Rob Blake has said he’s not considering it, Seravalli says it’s now or never. This is in fact the last summer where the Kings will be able to save 66% of the salary owed to him (excluding bonuses), before Dubois’s 26th birthday. We would settle the bill by paying him 27.3 million of the remaining 59.5 million, a saving of more than 31 million.
But considering Dubois’ young age, that of number one center Anze Kopitar, soon to be 37, the lack of replacement at center, Dubois’ 60+ point seasons before his arrival in Los Angeles and the price tag for acquire, it would be surprising if we proceeded with a buyout, whatever Seravalli says.
