Since the entire Devils fandom has been refreshing news platforms all week, waiting for news on who will wind up coaching their team this season and finally got rewarded with the former Toronto Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe as the answer, I’ve decided to try and distract you once again with my personal obsession…goaltending! Especially since with Keefe hired, the next domino to fall in Fitzgerald’s offseason plans has to be the big game hunting goalie he spoke of.
This will be a bit of a different spin on it though, since you already read who I felt like the Devils will ultimately acquire. I want to look at who the Devils competition could possibly be in the goaltending market, especially since hockey is now in the midst of their conference finals. It should provide a bit more clarity on what teams might be looking to upgrade their goaltending, and what teams will probably run their situation back as-is.
So here’s a list of teams and my feelings on whether or not they are serious players in the goaltending market:
Los Angeles Kings: The Kings just hired, or should I say re-hired, their new/old coach Jim Hiller. He served as the interim head coach after a dismal stretch of hockey led to Todd McLellan being dismissed. Hiller righted the ship and got the team into the playoffs, only to suffer the same exact fate the McLellan-led teams did the past two seasons. Losing in the first round to the Edmonton Oilers. The Kings attempted to go with a tandem of Pheonix Copley and Cam Talbot and signed “Big Save” Dave Rittich to act as insurance in case of injury. Well, good thing they did since Copley got injured and Rittich served a crucial part to getting the Kings into the playoffs. The Kings largely had to take this approach, given their salary cap issues and how little room they had left. They got decent goaltending even though they went bargain shopping. The only goalie they currently have signed for next year is Big Save Dave. The rumors were out there that the Kings attempted to acquire Linus Ullmark at the deadline but he used his no trade clause to stop it from happening, allegedly not because he didn’t want to go to LA, but he didn’t want to go there at the time since he had small kids in school and didn’t want to be apart from them. A deal like that could be re-visited during the summer and would allow Ullmark and his family to adjust to the move and get settled in new schools in LA. I very much think the Kings will likely be players here, though with the Pierre-Luc Dubois contract kicking in and a few RFAs plus some UFAs they might want to bring back, it might make the space tough. Ullmark is only a $5 million cap hit next season. I think the chances of Ullmark winding up in LA are pretty good.
Buffalo Sabres: I can’t put myself in Kevyn Adams’ shoes, but I don’t think goaltending is an issue in Buffalo. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen finally arrived last year and brought with him a .910 save percentage and a 9.4 goals saved above expected, which was good for 19th of all goalies in the NHL. Devon Levi had a remarkable season in the AHL with a .927 save percentage. To me, while the Sabres are often talked about here, I think they actually have one of the better goalie setups in the league for moving forward. The issue is the Sabres defense and allowing quality chances. Not sure how much that changes with Lindy Ruff in charge, but he proved that his system can be defensively solid if the players are too confused with their roles. I could see the Sabres potentially signing a cheap UFA goalie for depth purposes, but I think their focus will be elsewhere. UPL and Levi should be the pairing.
Ottawa Senators: Travis Green got decent to very good goaltending from Jake Allen and Kaapo Kahkonen down the stretch with the Devils. Will Joonas Korpisalo, Mads Sogaard or Anton Forsberg do the same? All three were in the bottom 20 in terms of goaltending rankings for GSAx. They could assume that because their defensive coverage was such a mess that they could try and run it back and see if the improvement happens in goal because the quality of chances will go down. But if I’m a Sens fan, would I be OK with that? To be fair to Korpisalo, it was merely a year ago that his save percentage was well above .900. And getting unburdened from that $4 million AAV for the next four seasons could prove to be problematic. They also have Leevi Merilainen, along with Sogaard, who could be knocking on the door. This one could go either way, but I could also see this team having to stick with Korpisalo (due to that contract) and Forsberg and hoping one of their kids might emerge. Maybe the Kings decide to take Korpisalo back since his number is locked in and they know him well enough during his time in LA?
Detroit Red Wings: The Red Wings appeared to have found a bridge from the rebuild in Ville Husso to the competitive team on the other side in Sebastian Cossa. But Husso has suffered from injuries and the Wings almost snuck into the playoffs with the tandem of Alex Lyon and James Reimer. Lyon is signed one more season and Husso also has one more season at $4.75 million. You’d think if the Wings were really wanting to take a big leap forward into the playoffs next season that they’d want a Linus Ullmark or a Juuse Saros or Jacob Markstrom. The Wings might be the Devils biggest competition for Markstrom since Cossa, a high draft pick, might only need one more AHL season and possibly a season backing up before ascending to his role as starter. The Wings could always send Husso as part of the deal to the Flames and retain a portion of the salary. If Husso is healthy, he could potentially give the Flames someone to insulate Dustin Wolf. And the Wings would then have Markstrom and Lyon as the tandem with Cossa waiting in the, ahem, wings. I do think the Red Wings, given all their cap space, will probably be one of the strongest competitors with the Devils in terms of the goalie market.
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Edmonton Oilers: Ken Holland is allegedly all but out the door with the Oilers, if you believe the rumor mill. So the Jack Campbell mess, along with Calvin Pickard and Stuart Skinner will be someone else’s mess to clean up. Goaltending is a weird position to project. Campbell has basically been left for dead in the AHL and the Oilers survived a second round matchup with the Canucks where Skinner was routinely outplayed by third-string Canucks goalie Arturs Silov. The Oilers play the Stars now and it appears like maybe the scramble in the offseason for a goalie might be postponed. That being said, if the Western Conference Final goes like many are predicting with the Stars rolling over the Oilers, then Project Fix Oilers Goaltending will be back on. Though Stuart Skinner did finish with a positive GSAx after an abysmal start. And what to do about Jack Campbell’s $5 million per season for the next three years? A Leon Draisaitl extension could be looming and then McDavid soon after that. Skinner might wind up being the only option here so they better pray that he finds his game and confidence moving forward. The more you look at the Oilers on CapFriendly, the more you’re wondering, how in the heck did Darnell Nurse get a $9.25 M contract for that long? Calvin Pickard will be a UFA after this year, so if I had to guess, the Oilers might look for an upgrade in goal, depending on what happens in the WCF, but they might be severely handicapped in the search unless they find a way to unload Jack Campbell and with Arizona moving to Utah, well, the number of teams willing to eat a big contract for draft picks is dwindling.
Toronto Maple Leafs: I’ve had a feeling for a bit now that whatever team wound up with Craig Berube as a head coach that they might look to deal for Jordan Binnington. Remember coaches who win with a certain guy tend to believe in that guy. Berube won a Cup on the back of Binnington. Binnington is currently the number one goalie on Team Canada at the Worlds in Czechia. If Berube has any input, I wouldn’t be surprised if he places a bug in Treliving’s ear about seeing the cost for Binningtonmontreal canadiens custom jersey amazon. The Blues have Joel Hofer coming and they could easily supplement through UFA. But that’s just my conspiracy theory speaking. I definitely think the Leafs will be looking for an upgrade in goal. If you believe some rumors, the Juuse Saros for Mitch Marner deal might be something that Treliving attempts to accomplish. Andrew Brunette would likely love a deal for Marner to help his uptempo attack. The Leafs ONLY have Joseph Woll locked in for next season, so I would assume they will probably try and go bigger in goal at long last. I think the Leafs will definitely be in the mix, especially after watching the Jeremy Swayman show down at the other end of the ice knocking them out of the playoffs. Again.
Colorado Avalanche: Alexandar Georgiev gets a lot of heat in Colorado, but he actually was decent in the regular season, especially since he had a Martin Brodeur-esque workload. He saved 5.0 GSAx in 63 games. That being said, he also was 22nd among all playoff goalies in CSAx, playing 11 more games. My son is an Avs fan (secondary behind the Devils, of course) and he repeatedly asked me why Jared Bednar played Georgiev so much this season. And honestly, the only thing I could come back to was that he never trusted the backup goalie, Justus Annunen or Ivan Prosvetov (earlier in the year). My feeling is that now that Colorado is clear of the blast zone of the season, maybe they re-assess how they used Georgiev these past two seasons and cut back on his workload a bit next year, giving Annunen more opportunities to get starts. Georgiev’s game seemed like it slipped the more work he got later in the season. With a Mikko Rantanen extension on the horizon and Casey Mittelstadt up for RFA status and the looming cap hits of possibly Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin hanging over them, it will be tough for the Avs to do anything but run it back with Georgiev and Annunen. MAYBE they sign a cheap vet as insurance, but that’s about all they can do. A big upgrade will likely not be in the cards. Just manage the goaltending better in 2024-2025, Mr. Bednar.
Columbus Blue Jackets: This one is simple, at least to me. The Jackets have two guys they will likely turn the crease over to, possibly as soon as this season after likely dealing Elvis Merzlikins to one of the teams above. Maybe the Kings if they don’t get Ullmark since the Jackets and Kings like to make deals? Jet Greaves and Daniil Tarasov. Tarasov took a bunch of starts last season when the coach was unhappy with Merzlikins. He appeared in 24 games and sported a 0.0 GSAx. Basically he stopped what he should. Merzlikins, on the other hand, finished with a 6.3 GSAx, good for 83rd among all goalies who played in the NHL. I believe the crease will be Tarasov and Greaves so I don’t believe the Jackets will be in the market for anything goalie-wise, other than moving their very expensive and underperforming Merzlikins.
Carolina Hurricanes: I think with all the UFAs on their plate, plus some extensions that might need to happen as well, including Jaccob Slavin, the Hurricanes will hard pressed to both move Freddie Andersen and bring in a more expensive solution. Plus, I’m a firm believer that Pyotr Kochetkov will wind up being the long-term answer in Carolina as well. That being said, when the margins for a team like Carolina are so razor-thin between winning and losing, maybe acquiring that stud goalie is more important than keeping a Brady Skjei or Brett Pesce? Rod Brind’Amour talked openly after the game about how Andersen should’ve stopped the tying goal in the elimination game against the Rangers. Though the Canes tend to not want to overpay for anything. They set a number that someone is worth and refuse to cross the line. But they also broke their usual approach to trade deadline this year by getting Jake Guentzel. Oh yeah, he’s also a UFA so if they want to keep him, then they probably need plenty of room for that. So this one is a guessing game for me. In the past, I’d say the Canes worry about all the other areas and just hope Kochetkov becomes the man and Andersen can back him up. But with them breaking their usual protocol…who knows? Maybe they chase Saros. Maybe Markstrom. Maybe Merzlikinswho were winnipeg jets before. Or maybe they just stand pat.
So that’s it. The rest of the league I think is fairly set in goal. I don’t see any others making major moves, but nine teams above are possibilities. I’ve talked before about the goalies that could shake loose besides the obvious names like Saros, Ullmark and Markstrom. The teams with those other names might be wise to sell now, especially since it looks like there will be plenty of hooks in the water, hoping to snag that big fish goalie that can take a team to the promised land.
What do you think? Are there teams I missed? Any of these you think would just run status quo? Let me know in the comments.
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