This week’s fantasy hockey waiver wire piece for The Athletic is here.
As teams head into the stretch run of the 2021 NHL season, it is worth a look at the goaltending status of each team to see whether there will may be changes coming before the NHL Trade Deadline.
Usually, there are not significant goaltending trades during the season but there may be some contenders that feel the need to bolster the position for a playoff run.
Beyond that, there should be some significant goaltender movement in the offseason.
There has been a lot of discussion about roster turnover this summer because of the expansion draft but goaltending, specifically, could be a position of significant turnover.
Some will be hitting the end of the line but, still, the musical chairs for goaltenders could result in some significant changes before next season.
In addition to three or four goaltenders moving via the expansion draft, here are the goaltenders that will be unrestricted free agents this summer.
Philipp Grubauer, Colorado
Tuukka Rask, Boston
Frederik Andersen, Toronto
Petr Mrazek, Carolina
Linus Ullmark, Buffalo
Jonathan Bernier, Detroit
Chris Driedger, Florida
Antti Raanta, Arizona
Jaroslav Halak, Boston
David Rittich, Calgary
James Reimer, Carolina
Mike Smith, Edmonton
Laurent Brossoit, Winnipeg
Pekka Rinne, Nashville
Scott Wedgewood, New Jersey
Aaron Dell, New Jersey
Carter Hutton, Buffalo
Anton Forsberg, Ottawa
Devan Dubnyk, San Jose
Brian Elliott, Philadelphia
Curtis McElhinney, Tampa Bay
Ryan Miller, Anaheim
Calvin Pickard, Detroit
Plus, maybe, Henrik Lundqvist?
NORTH
TORONTO
Frederik Andersen is out with a lower-body injury so the starting job is Jack Campbell’s if he keeps playing well (he has a .951 SV%) and stays healthy, which is hardly a given for a guy who has started eight games. Presumably, the Maple Leafs are looking at options on the trade market to give them better depth because if Andersen isn’t healthy, they can’t run the risk that they need to start Michael Hutchinson in the playoffs.
WINNIPEG
Connor Hellebuyck is playing at a high level again, with a .934 SV% in his past 11 starts. Laurent Brossoit (.914 SV% in 9 GP) is fine as backup.
EDMONTON
Mike Smith is 39 and having his best season since 2011-2012 which was the best season of his career. Mikko Koskinen has not had a great season, running into trouble when he played a lot to start the year, but he is adequate as the No. 2.
MONTREAL
Carey Price’s performance is not up to his reputation but the Habs are committed and will have to hope that Price and Jake Allen can get the job done.
CALGARY
A slump from Jacob Markstrom (.875 SV% in past 14 GP) contributed to the Flames falling off the pace. David Rittich, a pending UFA, could have some modest value on the trade market.
VANCOUVER
Justified to be impressed with the play of Thatcher Demko (.917 SV% in 25 GP) this season and gave him a new five-year, $25-million contract. It now means that Braden Holtby is an expensive backup and it is the third time in the past four seasons that Holtby has posted below-average results.
OTTAWA
Matt Murray has been activated from the injured list and, given how much they are paying him, the Senators want him to take hold of the No. 1 job. Joey Daccord is hurt and Marcus Hogberg is in the AHL, so Filip Gustavsson and Anton Forsberg are in consideration for the Sens. They have sent Gustavsson to the taxi squad but, at the moment, they don’t exactly have a solid and reliable answer here.
WEST
COLORADO
Philipp Grubauer is handling a heavy workload and Hunter Miska as backup didn’t work. It would be something of a surprise if Jonas Johansson is up to that job, too, so the Avs could be in the market for a goaltender if Pavel Francouz is not going to be able to make it back at some point this season.
VEGAS
Robin Lehner has returned and now it’s a matter of getting him into a rhythm. Marc-Andre Fleury was great early when he was playing a lot but has stumbled a bit recently. Ultimately, the Golden Knights still have an enviable tandem, with two goaltenders that have experience as NHL starters.
MINNESOTA
Kaapo Kahkonen may have saved the Wild season when Cam Talbot was injured earlier in the season but Talbot has resumed the starting role and has played well.
ST. LOUIS
Jordan Binnington has struggled and Ville Husso hasn’t pushed him at all. With the Blues’ playoff lives on the line, they probably aren’t going away from the guy who won a Cup for them a couple of years ago but his recent play (.888 SV% in past 14 GP) ought to be a concern.
ARIZONA
Darcy Kuemper and Antti Raanta are both very good and both are injured, on a week-to-week basis, so Adin Hill and Ivan Prosvetov are the tandem for now. With the Coyotes in the playoff hunt, they need Hill to hold the fort.
LOS ANGELES
Cal Petersen has been great this season and, based on his performance compared to Jonathan Quick, should be starting more games.
SAN JOSE
Martin Jones has been good for a couple of weeks (942 SV% in past nine games), not so good overall, and he is probably playing more than he should. Devan Dubnyk, admittedly, hasn’t been great either. Story of the Sharks for the past few seasons.
ANAHEIM
John Gibson is still out with an upper-body injury, so there is a chance for the Ducks to give Anthony Stolarz some reps. Ryan Miller has not been great so no harm in giving Stolarz, a 27-year-old who has mostly been a No. 3 goaltender, a chance.
CENTRAL
TAMPA BAY
Andrei Vasilevskiy is on his way to the Vezina and it is a pretty big drop to Curtis McElhinney, who was better a few years ago but it won’t matter as long as Vasilevskiy stays healthy.
FLORIDA
Chris Driedger keeps playing well and forcing his way into the mix because Sergei Bobrovsky has only been okay overall, which is an improvement after a poor start to the season.
CAROLINA
Alex Nedeljkovic has been outstanding, taking advantage of the opportunity presented when Petr Mrazek got hurt. James Reimer has been fine but the question is how quickly the ‘Canes will turn the net over to Mrazek when he is ready to return.
NASHVILLE
After a brutal first half of the season, Juuse Saros has started to play really well, helping the Predators get back into a playoff battle. Pekka Rinne is okay in a backup role but wouldn’t want him carrying this team in a playoff push.
CHICAGO
When the season started, the tandem of Malcolm Subban and Collin Delia may have been the worst in the league. Chicago quickly turned to Kevin Lankinen who has been great – he’s fallen off a bit from his incredible start but he is the biggest reason that Chicago is even in the playoff hunt.
COLUMBUS
Tried to run with Joonas Korpisalo, who played so well in the bubble last season, but he has reverted to previous form. Elvis Merzlikins has played well when healthy. Trouble is, he has battled through a few injuries.
DALLAS
Ben Bishop has not been able to play as he recovers from hip surgery. Anton Khudobin has been all right and rookie Jake Oettinger has shown real promise, giving them nice depth at the position.
DETROIT
Thomas Greiss has had a hard season posting an .890 SV% and two wins in 19 starts, replacing Jimmy Howard as the Red Wings goaltender that can’t win. Jonathan Bernier was playing well, and could be trade bait, if he’s healthy. He has not played since March 18, so Calvin Pickard has seen some action
EAST
WASHINGTON
Ilya Samsonov missed a bunch of time due to COVID-19 and the Capitals are trying to get him established as their No. 1 goaltender – a timeline that was accelerated by Henrik Lundqvist needing open-heart surgery shortly before the season started. Vitek Vanecek has been adequate in the backup role which is more than the Capitals had a right to expect.
N.Y. ISLANDERS
Goaltending remains a strength for the Islanders. Semyon Varlamov has had one of his best seasons and Ilya Sorokin is living up to expectations after a couple of rough starts to open his NHL career.
PITTSBURGH
Tristan Jarry struggled early in the season but had started to turn things around before his recent injury. Casey DeSmith has been all right in the backup role and the Penguins need him to fill in as the starter while Jarry is out.
BOSTON
The goaltending duo of Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak is one of the league’s best, though Rask was not having his best season before getting hurt. Halak should be able to handle the starter’s role with Rask out and Daniel Vladar has seen action in a few games and not looked out of place.
PHILADELPHIA
No team has had their season sunk by goaltending like the Flyers. They didn’t need Carter Hart to be a star – though that was a reasonable forecast entering his third NHL season – but he has collapsed and so have the Flyers. Brian Elliott played well early but has started to fade under a heavier workload.
N.Y. RANGERS
Igor Shesterkin has quickly established that he is a legit No. 1 goaltender and potentially a star. Alexandar Georgiev is a decent backup and Keith Kinkaid even saw some action, and played all right, while Shesterkin was injured.
NEW JERSEY
Starter MacKenzie Blackwood opened the season strong, had a really hard time when he came back from COVID-19 but appears to be finding his way again. He has the potential to be an above-average starter but he’s not there yet. Scott Wedgewood has performed well, especially considering that he was ticketed for the AHL. Aaron Dell is also in the mix and gives the Devils plenty of depth at the position, maybe enough to make a minor trade.
BUFFALO
Buffalo’s season would probably look much different if Linus Ullmark had not been injured. Not that he is a superstar but he has a .920 SV% and that’s a lot better than the Sabres have been getting from Carter Hutton or, before he was traded to Colorado, Jonas Johansson.