NHL Starting Goalies: Crowded Creases Around the League

Before the 2015-16 season began, we released an NHL starting goalies piece specifically dedicated to which teams were best equipped to handle an injury to their starter, which can be found here.

Ranked 1st was Winnipeg, who lost Ondrej Pavelec, giving Connor Hellebuyck his opportunity to prove he was NHL ready.

Buffalo came in at 25, and were treat to a surprise emergence from Linus Ullmark, along with solid play from Chad Johnson. Unfortunately, it didn’t relate to enough wins.

Ranking 29th was Montreal. We praised Mike Condon for his play in 2014-15, but it was more about losing the best goaltender in the world.

Ranking 30th, the Arizona Coyotes were treated to a rookie of the month performance in January from Louis Domingue, but it’s unlikely to last as they’re already beginning to slide out of playoff contention.

Goalies at the Trade Deadline

Fans shouldn’t expect much goaltender movement in the weeks leading up to/or on the February 29th trade deadline. Many of the top available goaltenders have expiring contracts, and could be available in the summer. Addressing issues in the crease is usually best served during the offseason. The only movement we may see is a team looking to add depth in the backup role or fill an injury void (i.e. Arizona or Montreal, among others).

Teams Looking (possibly) for NHL Starting Goalies or 1A Quality:

Arizona Coyotes – Time to move on from the injured Mike Smith. The Coyotes have an extremely thin goaltending prospect pool as well. Things fell apart when Arizona realized Mark Visentin was a bust.

Calgary Flames – Give Karri Ramo credit, he bounced back nicely in 2015-16. Ramo, 29, and Hiller, 33 are both over the hill. Nothing more than a short-term solution that can go on a nice run, Calgary will need to hope one of Jon Gillies or Mason McDonald is NHL ready in the near future. With both Ramo and Hiller set to become UFA’s in the summer, don’t be surprised if Calgary is the most active team on the goalie market. Re-signing Karri Ramo would be a mistake.

Carolina Hurricanes – It’s unclear whether GM Ron Francis has interest in signing Cam Ward to a new contract. There’s likely mutual interest, but the number needs to work for Carolina given his injury history that lead to years of not earning his lucrative $6.3 million dollar cap hit. Eddie Lack is on the books until 2017-18, and Carolina may choose to continue featuring this season’s duo moving forward. If not, Carolina becomes a top target for goalies such as Ondrej Pavelec and Frederik Andersen (Carolina drafted Andersen originally before re-entering the draft two years later).

Montreal Canadiens – The only reason Montreal explores the goalie trade market once again is to attempt to find yet another temporary replacement for Carey Price. It’s more likely they continue on with Mike Condon and Ben Scrivens though.

New York Islanders – Not that Thomas Greiss isn’t a serviceable backup. It’s the fact that Halak’s best NHL seasons came when he was challenged (Carey Price in Montreal, Brian Elliott in St.Louis). They don’t need someone to subtract from Halak’s minutes, so much as to push him to be ready every night.

Philadelphia Flyers – Give Ron Hextall credit. He’s done a great job getting the right pieces in place, relieving some salary, while making some excellent draft picks. Philly is trending in the right direction. There’s still however question marks surrounding netminders Steve Mason and Michal Neuvirth. 2015-16 isn’t a fair sample size, and it’s easy to overvalue Neuvirth’s tremendous season. It’s not to say Steve Mason can’t be the answer at some point, but it’s certainly not going to be Michal Neuvirth riding one great season. The pair can co-exist for now, but Philadelphia might be better suited exploring the trade market, even if it means overpaying for a quality goaltending prospect. Goaltending has been an issue for far too long in Philadelphia.

Toronto Maple Leafs – Another murky goaltending situation. Jonathan Bernier is on the books through next season, while James Reimer is set to become a free agent. There seems to be mutual interest in negotiating a new contract. At this point, we know Reimer is a very good backup, capable of playing long stretches at times. He’s not capable of playing 60 plus games a year. Bernier still has a miniscule chance of becoming Toronto’s number one, but at this point it seems doubtful. Toronto may look to trade Bernier at some point. They’d prefer to develop within, but may be interested in one of the younger stars (Vasilevskiy, Subban, etc.).

Now onto our NHL Starting Goalies: Crowded Creases countdown…