San Jose Sharks goalie crunch: Which teams might be looking for help in net?
The 2021-22 season ended Sunday night, and the chance to remake rosters for next year begins in earnest in the coming days.
One fascinating bit of roster management for the Sharks will be in goal. San Jose has three NHL goaltenders under team control for next season. The club also has significant needs at other positions.
Interim general manager Joe Will said at the end of the Sharks’ season in April that he doesn’t expect the team to have all three goaltenders on the roster when training camp begins. That means one of them is likely to be traded between now and then.
But which one, and to where?
James Reimer is 34 and he just set career highs in games played and started. He wasn’t named the club’s most valuable player, but he was a pretty easy second behind Timo Meier. He’s under contract for one more season at a very team-friendly number ($2.25 million in cap space, $2.75 million in salary).
Adin Hill is 26 and 2021-22 was a rough season for him. He was great early, then dealt with injuries for much of the rest of the campaign. He had one other burst of strong play when Reimer was injured in the middle of the season, but there was inconsistency in his performances as well. Nagging injuries left him with only one start after Jan. 22, and his lack of availability led to a trade that could displace him from the team’s future plans. He has one more year left on his contract at $2.175 million in cap space ($2.675 million in salary).
Kaapo Kahkonen will be 26 in August. He arrived before the trade deadline in a deal for breakout defenseman Jake Middleton. He has 65 games of NHL experience, including 11 with the Sharks after the move. Kahkonen had two pretty strong seasons in the AHL and has a solid but not spectacular body of work early in his NHL career. He’s a restricted free agent, but could end up signing a contract in the same neighborhood as the other two guys.
Reimer probably has the most trade value, though Kahkonen’s age and potential could entice a team that really likes him. Hill’s market is almost certainly the lowest because of the injuries, but he has shown flashes of potential with both the Coyotes and Sharks, who paid a second-round pick to acquire him last summer.
The Sharks have also made it clear they want to win this coming season, and compete for a playoff spot. Here is the conundrum: Should the Sharks trade Reimer, because he can provide the best return despite that leaving them without a proven NHL netminder? Should they trade Hill and go into next season with two solid goalies they feel comfortable with, but potentially not get much back that will help in 2022-23? Should they hedge and move Kahkonen, despite not having him around for very long?
Whether it is Will and his current management team, or a new GM in the coming days or weeks, this is a huge decision that will affect the organization’s chances to improve in 2022-23 and possibly have long-term ramifications as well.
We’ve looked at the goaltending situations for all of the other 31 teams, and placed them into groups, ranging from least likely to most willing to make a move.
We’re all set
Boston (Linus Ullmark, Jeremy Swayman); Calgary (Jacob Markstrom, Dan Vladar); Carolina (Frederik Andersen, Antti Raanta); Columbus (Elvis Merzlikins, Joonas Korpisalo); Florida (Sergei Bobrovsky, Spencer Knight); Tampa Bay (Andrei Vasilevskiy, Brian Elliott); Vancouver (Thatcher Demko, Spencer Martin); Vegas (Robin Lehner, Logan Thompson)
Probably going to need something really weird to happen to have any of these clubs looking for another goaltender.
Not likely a match
Jake Oettinger (RFA), Anton Khudobin, Scott Wedgewood (UFA), Braden Holtby (UFA)
Juuse Saros, Connor Ingram
Carter Hart, Ivan Fedotov
Connor Hellebuyck, Eric Comrie (UFA)
Oettinger is going to be Dallas’ No. 1 and the Stars are likely to use Khudobin behind him. Saros and Hellebuyck are going to play a ton, and both of those teams are likely to go cheap with a backup. The Senators could try to trade Murray and the Kings could try to move one of their goalies, but both of those seem pretty unlikely. The Flyers are probably going to rely on Fedotov, who just won a KHL title, as Hart’s backup after Martin Jones didn’t really work out.
A definite … maybe?
The Ducks are first in this group alphabetically, but are probably at the bottom and could even be in the previous section. If the Ducks trade Gibson, they’d have an obvious opening. Do they have the motivation to win now and therefore the desire to trade for someone to pair with Stolarz, or would they just find a cheap free agent to bide some time until Lukas Dostal is ready?
Darcy Kuemper (UFA), Pavel Francouz
This one is pretty simple. If the Avalanche can’t retain Kuemper, they could be in the market for an effective replacement who also still allows them cap flexibility to retain as many of their other free agents as possible after winning a championship. One of the Sharks goalies could be an ideal fit.
Carey Price, Jake Allen, Sam Montembault (RFA), Cayden Primeau (RFA)
This one is also pretty simple. Price still isn’t sure how much he’ll be able to play next year, if at all. Allen was mostly solid, but Montembault and Primeau did not help the Habs win games. If Montreal wants to win more this year and Price isn’t available, outside help might be needed. It could depend on the organization’s motivation level to squeeze out more wins/points, though.
Cam Talbot, Marc-Andre Fleury (UFA)
The Wild have one of the great young prospects, but Jesper Wallstedt probably isn’t helping in the near future. Will Fleury return? If not, the Wild are really squeezed by the Ryan Suter/Zach Parise buyouts. Trading Kahkonen back to Minnesota might be weird, but maybe the Wild see a Reimer-Talbot duo helping them remain a contender in the West.
N.Y. Islanders
The Islanders missed the playoffs, are short on cap space to get better and have a $5 million backup goalie (Varlamov). They could move him elsewhere and add one of the Sharks’ goalies, then allocate the saved money to an area of need. It might be too far-fetched, unless there’s a way for the Sharks to help fill another need in the deal as well.
N.Y. Rangers
Igor Shesterkin, Alexandar Georgiev (RFA)
How much is Georgiev going to cost? And do the Rangers definitely want to continue with him as Shesterkin’s backup after his save percentage has declined every year of his five-season career to date? He also has a negative Goals Saved Above Average in each of the past three seasons. If the Rangers do want a different option, the next question is do they want to pay, both in assets and more than $2 million in cap space for a guy who will clearly be a No. 2 to one of the best goalies in the world?
Jordan Binnington, Ville Husso (UFA), Charlie Lindgren (UFA)
Binnington is paid like a top-eight goalie in the league but hasn’t played like one very often since the 2019 Stanley Cup run. Husso had a nice year and could get paid starter money or close to it by someone else. The Blues have a team built to win now, and someone like Reimer or Kahkonen could be nice insurance if the $6 million man plays more like a below-average starter again.
Worth calling them
Arizona
Karel Vejmelka, Harri Sateri (UFA)
The Coyotes signed Vejmalka to be their workhorse, and have a couple options under control to back him up (Ivan Prosetov and RFA Josef Korenar). Would any of San Jose’s goalies be a talent upgrade in Arizona’s goalie room? Yes. Do the Coyotes actually want another NHL-quality goaltender to help them win games in 2022-23? That … is not really clear. One more year of being bad to chase Connor Bedard might be the plan
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Craig Anderson (UFA), Dustin Tokarski (UFA)
UPL should be the Sabres’ No. 1 goalie this season. They played five other goalies this past season and all of them are UFAs. Buffalo should add a veteran to mentor/spot Luukkonen, but how much cap space/cash will they be willing to spend on a short-term option like Reimer? And would they want a goalie in his mid-20s when Devon Levi could be in the mix in the next couple of seasons?
Collin Delia (UFA), Kevin Lankinen (UFA)
The Blackhawks started four goalies in 2021-22, and one of them (prospect Arvid Soderblom, who had two NHL starts) is under contract for next season. Chicago has already declared its intentions to rebuild (i.e. not be good), so the Blackhawks aren’t likely to be interested in Reimer. Hill could make some sense — a low-risk, low-cost addition, and if he plays too well/begins to hurt their chances at a high draft pick then flipping him somewhere else could be relatively easy. Or he plays well in spurts, but the team still loses a lot and maybe they see a long-term No. 1B option in him.
Chicago has a couple of young-ish RFA forwards (Dominik Kubalik, Dylan Strome) that could be available as it looks to pare down the roster, and there’s also a chance that Alex DeBrincat gets moved in a blockbuster deal. Hill isn’t going to fetch any of those players, but he could be a secondary part of a package that gets a deal done.
Alex Nedeljkovic, Thomas Greiss (UFA), Magnus Hellberg (UFA)
The Red Wings might be inching closer to “ending” the rebuild. They do have a long-term plan in net (highly touted Sebastian Cossa), but he could be years away. Detroit could just sign Greiss and run it back with him and Nedeljkovic. If Greiss goes elsewhere, the Wings will likely be in the market for another inexpensive goalie.
Mackenzie Blackwood, Jonathan Bernier
The Devils played seven goalies last season. Six of them finished with a sub-.900 save percentage. Bernier led the team with a .902 in 10 games before he missed the rest of the campaign and needed hip surgery. Blackwood began the year with vaccination and heel issues, and the heel problem didn’t go away.
So the Devils could go into next season with healthier versions of Blackwood and Bernier, and older versions of Nico Daws and Akira Schmid, but the offseason messaging from management has been clear: New Jersey wants another goaltender. And assuming New Jersey adds one of the top three prospects in the draft (all forwards) at No. 2, the Devils might have a young, interesting forward or two they’re willing to include in a trade.
Philipp Grubauer, Chris Driedger, Joey Daccord
Driedger tore an ACL at the world championship and is expected to miss most of next season. The Kraken could just ride with Grubauer and Daccord or another veteran minimum type. But there’s been rumblings that Seattle wants to spend some money this summer and try to get more competitive instead of a second season of waiting for draft lottery night.
Jack Campbell (UFA), Petr Mrazek, Erik Kallgren, Joseph Woll
Campbell could sign elsewhere, and the Maple Leafs could try to punt on Mrazek after a rough first year. If both of those things happened, they could move near the top of the list of teams that would be interested in Reimer, a well-liked former Leafs player. Forward Alexander Kerfoot or defenseman Justin Holl could both be interesting parts of a trade, though maybe not someone the Sharks would immediately jump at in a one-for-one exchange.
Ilya Samsonov (RFA), Vitek Vanecek (RFA), Pheonix Copley (UFA), Zach Fucale
The depth chart in net is a little unsettled in the nation’s capital. Neither Samsonov nor Vanecek has inspired a lot of confidence as a future No. 1 goalie. The Capitals are also in a fascinating spot this summer because multiple core players could miss a chunk of next season with injuries. It might not be possible to rally for one more playoff run with Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom and company. If they decide to try, Reimer or Kahkonen could be a steadier option than the up-and-down play from the two RFAs.
Texas-sized 10-4
Edmonton
Smith is 40, was reportedly playing through injuries at the end of the season and retirement and/or spending the final year of his contract on long-term injured reserve are still options. Mikko Koskinen has already left for Europe. Skinner played pretty well in six NHL starts, but the Oilers are going to be looking for a minimum of one goalie this offseason and possibly two.
Reimer or Kahkonen would make a lot of sense for Edmonton, and there have been varying degrees of rumblings about the availability of a couple forwards with middle-six potential (Jesse Puljujarvi, Kailer Yamamoto). Not to say that either side would do a one-for-one trade here, but it could be the foundation of an intriguing “hockey trade” for both clubs.
Tristan Jarry, Casey DeSmith (UFA), Louis Domingue (UFA)
The Penguins win their first-round series … let’s call it eight times out of 10 if Jarry stays healthy and close to that with DeSmith as well. Pittsburgh has major roster-building decisions to make this offseason, starting with two of the best players in franchise history (Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang). One goal the club would like to accomplish is adding a more dependable netminder to pair with Jarry, who had a great regular season but missed the first six games of the playoffs (after having a terrible postseason the year before).
Pittsburgh has a collection of middle-six wingers (Kasperi Kapanen, Danton Heinen and Jason Zucker) with some warts and a trio of defensemen (John Marino, Brian Dumoulin and Marcus Pettersson) that might be available at the right price to help assuage its cap issues, but how much value any of them have relative to their contracts is debatable.
(Photo of James Reimer: Stan Szeto / USA Today)
