GDT: Draft aftermath and free agent frenzy

[Big Daddy Cane]

A look at the goalie musical chairs as of tonight:

Anaheim (Gibson/Stolarz) - Stolarz has a one-way deal, but he may be the 3rd goalie again.
Arizona (Kuemper/Raanta) - Hill signed a one-way deal and the Coyotes are looking to shed payroll. There should be some movement here.
Boston (Rask/Halak) - I don't buy the Rask rumblings.
Buffalo (Ullmark/Hutton) - They may not look to do something here.
Calgary (Markstrom/Rittich)
Carolina (Mrazek/Reimer) - Looking for an upgrade, but have to get out of one of those contracts clean.
Chicago (Delia/Subban) - It appears that this is a thing.
Colorado (Grubauer/Francouz) - Never a firm suggestion that they were going in a different direction.
Columbus (Korpisalo/Merzlikins) - Looking to move one. That could create room for a backup, but Kivlenieks may end up in that role.
Dallas (Bishop/Khudobin)
Detroit (Bernier/X) - Actively in the goalie market.
Edmonton (Koskinen/X) - Actively in the goalie market.
Florida (Bobrovsky/Driedger) - Maybe they look for a better backup?
Los Angeles (Quick/Petersen)
Minnesota (Talbot/Stalock)
Montreal (Price/Allen)
Nashville (Rinne/Saros)
New Jersey (Crawford/Blackwood)
New York (Varlamov/Sorokin) - Not sure how legit the rumor of moving Varlamov to re-sign Greiss is.
New York (Shesterkin/Georgiev)
Ottawa (Murray/Nilsson)
Philadelphia (Hart/Elliot)
Pittsburgh (Jarry/DeSmith) - May bury DeSmith again if the right goalie comes along.
San Jose (Dubnyk/Jones)
St. Louis (Binnington/Husso) - Have to go with Husso for cap reasons.
Tampa Bay (Vasilevskiy/McElhinney) - It's not worth trying to squeeze some savings out of the backup goalie slot.
Toronto (Andersen/Campbell) - May look to reduce the amount spent on goaltending.
Vancouver (Demko/Holtby)
Vegas (Lehner/Fleury) - A backup job opens up if they're successful in moving Fleury.
Washington (Lundqvist/Samsonov)
Winnipeg (Hellebuyck/Brossoit)

Notable UFA goalies remaining: Greiss, Smith, Schneider, Anderson, Howard, Dell, Miller if he wants to play

There's a limited range of moves to be made here. I see 2 opens spots (Detroit and Edmonton) and 5 possible openings (Anaheim, Buffalo, Colorado, Florida, Pittsburgh). Greiss should grab one or backfill if filled in a different way. Save for Miller in Anaheim, the rest may have to settle for 3rd string duty or call it quits. Vegas' pathway for a Fleury trade narrowed today. If Toronto fans try to argue that Andersen is worth some crazy price in the days and weeks ahead, remind them of the limited number of suitors out there.

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

DW and Co magic will have to happen in the trade market.

there a handful of teams that are over the cap / really close to the ceiling with RFAs to sign or needing to add roster players.

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

I’m still thinking we wind up with a 1st+ for MAF partially retained then ship Reimer out.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

I’m still thinking we wind up with a 1st+ for MAF partially retained then ship Reimer out.

That would be fabulous, if we can. Then another 1st can be used on legitimate upgrades in the forward group at the deadline, when cap space opens up.

 

[DougieSmash]

I prefer Raanta to Kuemper.

 

[Incubajerks]

I prefer Raanta to Kuemper.

maybe me too, but Raanta seems unable to stay healthy for a complete season.

 

[Stickpucker]

Well I for one am glad you have reached a level of peace that other teams get all the FAs. I guess I should just be glad they don't build half the roster off the waiver wire anymore.

Agreed. The roster we have doesn't make you look and say....

We could really use a first pair D....

Oh and another tip 4 damn. Oh and a 30g scorer. Oh and another tip 6 forward. Let's add scoring depth as nice to have since we're running a 2nd line and 3 4ths...oh yeah could we get a league average starter in net too?


...glad we're not there right now.

 

[Vagrant]

i still think there is something salvageable about athansiou and would love to see if he can regain form on the cheap.

 

[spockBokk]

What would be your plan after trading one of them? What would you want to do with the cap space?

Bank it for potential in-season acquisitions or as cushion for Hamilton and Svechnikov extensions.

 

[spockBokk]

i still think there is something salvageable about athansiou and would love to see if he can regain form on the cheap.

Wasn’t he used to kill penalties in DET?

I think there’s a very interesting player there, but also think that if the Canes sign any ufa forwards it’s likely to be of the Jesper Fast variety.

 

[AD Skinner]

i still think there is something salvageable about athansiou and would love to see if he can regain form on the cheap.

If nothing else he and necas could fly through the neutral zone together

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

If nothing else he and necas could fly through the neutral zone together

Didn’t they say how great he’d be in Edmonton because he and McDavid would skate past everyone? Speed is great but actually being a good hockey player is better. I’ll pass on AA

 

[2Minutes4Surging]

I can’t say I am highly disappointed in the lack of day 1 action, because at this point I think we can expect not to be major players day 1. The reality is that there are still a lot of good players available and there are less openings than there was 24 hours ago. So there is still a great supply with less demand. We have a roster that has made it to the playoffs 2 years in a row, and while we could use a few upgrades, especially considering most of the metro was active yesterday, we still have a great foundation. We don’t have a ton of cap space without dealing a player with little to no cap coming back, but is that good asset management? Let’s say we could move Nino for a 3rd (just an example) and replace him with Granlund. However we have to sign Granlund to a $5M x 4 contract. Are we really any better off? I’m sure we are doing our due diligence but there is no reason to make a move that just kicks the can down the road or is a gamble in a different direction. You always run the risk that the new player just isn’t a fit. If we can move Gardiner for anything, I think we should do it and if nothing else, bank the cap for the future/deadline. But moving a player out and bringing a new player in just for the sake of it is not the answer, because we know what we have in our guys and there is always the risk that the new guy will be the next Dzingel or Gardiner.

 

[emptyNedder]

Florida (Bobrovsky/Driedger) - Maybe they look for a better backup?

BDC—really appreciate the time/effort to put this together. After the trade for Trocheck I went to the Panthers' thread a few times. It was a nearly unanimous opinion that Driedger was better than Bob the month Bob was out. While Driedger hasn't played much (only 15 total games) hard to ask for a better backup than 2.11/.933 thus far in his career. Not to mention he only costs $850K this year.

 

[Stickpucker]

I wonder if we could get Grandlund for cheap.

He could slot almost anywhere in the top 9 and compliment a lot of players well. Wouldn't even mind him on Staals wing.

 

[MinJaBen]

 

[DougieSmash]

Blues have to shelter three of Krug, Faulk and Dunn. That's not a way to build D.

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

Blues definitely got worse

 

[Svechhammer]

Those who win Day 1 of free agency rarely win big during the season.

 

[FlyingSquirrels]

Scratch Greiss off the list

 

[SlavinAway]

Scratch Greiss off the list

Good.

Where did he go?

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

Good.

Where did he go?

Detroit

 

[GoldiFox]

Edmonton struck out on goalies. Time for Carolina to trade for their new starter and send Mrazek to Edmonton for a pick.

 

[FlyingSquirrels]

Edmonton struck out on goalies. Time for Carolina to trade for their new starter and send Mrazek to Edmonton for a pick.

I agree with this.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

Those who win Day 1 of free agency rarely win big during the season.

Yup, patience is the right move. Already there are clubs way over the cap that are going to be pressured to make a move soon.