With a little more than one month to go before the July 1st Unrestricted Free Agents frenzy begins, questions abound regarding the status of quality goaltenders such as Roberto Luongo, Tim Thomas, Tomas Vokoun, Miikka Kiprusoff and Jonathan Bernier. The teams looking to add a proven netminder, namely the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the New York Islanders and the Chicago Blackhawks, will have plenty of options to fill the void they have in net, whether it is via trade or free agency.
Below you will find a list of the goaltenders most likely to change teams this summer.
The UFAs:
Martin Brodeur will most likely return with the Devils (Brad Barr-US PRESSWIRE)
Martin Brodeur, New Jersey – 31-21-4, 2.41 GAA, .908 Save % Prediction: will re-sign with the Devils
Tomas Vokoun, Washington – 25-17-2, 2.51 GAA, .917 Save % Prediction: will test free agency and receive an NHL contract
Josh Harding, Minnesota - 13-12-4, 2.62 GAA, .917 Save % Prediction: will test free agency and receive an NHL contract
Scott Clemmensen, Florida – 14-6-6, 2.57 GAA, .913 Save % Prediction: will test free agency and receive an NHL contract
Martin Biron, New York - 12-6-2, 2.46 GAA, .904 Save % Prediction: will resign with the Rangers
Chris Mason, Winnipeg – 8-7-1, 2.59 GAA, .898 Save % Prediction: will test free agency and receive a two-way contract
Johan Hedberg, New Jersey - 17-7-2, 2.23 GAA, .918 Save % Prediction: will resign with the Devils
Jonas Gustavsson, Toronto - 17-17-4, 2.92 GAA, .902 Save % Prediction: will test free agency and receive an NHL contract
Dwayne Roloson, Tampa Bay - 13-16-3, 3.66 GAA, .886 Save % Prediction: will announce his retirement
Curtis Sanford, Columbus - 10-18-4, 2.60 GAA, .911 Save % Prediction: will test free agency and receive a two-way contract
Brent Johnson, Pittsburgh – 6-7-2, 3.11 GAA, .883 Save % Prediction: will announce his retirement
Al Montoya, Long Island – 9-11-5, 3.10 GAA, .893 Save % Prediction: will test free agency and receive an NHL contract
Ty Conklin, Detroit – 5-6-1, 3.28 GAA, .884 Save % Prediction: will announce his retirement
Alex Auld, Ottawa – 2-4-2, 3.35 GAA, .884 Save % Prediction: will test free agency and receive a two-way contract
Andrew Raycroft, Dallas – 2-8-0, 3.52 GAA, .898 Save % Prediction: will test free agency and receive a minor-league contract
Dan Ellis, Anaheim – 1-5-0, 2.72 GAA, .911 Save % Prediction: will test free agency and receive a minor-league contract
Michael Leighton, Philadelphia – played in the AHL Prediction: will be re-signed by the Flyers, but at a lower price
Antero Niittymaki, San Jose - played in the AHL Prediction: will sign a contract in Europe
Roberto Luongo says he wants out of Vancouver (carsonballer14/Flickr)
The trade baits:
Roberto Luongo, Vancouver – 31-14-8, 2.41 GAA, .919 Save % Prediction: will be traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Ryan Malone, a 2nd round draft pick and a prospect
Tim Thomas, Boston – 35-19-1, 2.36 GAA, .920 Save % Prediction: will be traded to the Chicago Blackhawks for Ray Emery, Dave Bolland and Kyle Beach
Jonathan Bernier, Los Angeles – 5-6-2, 2.36 GAA, .909 Save % Prediction: will be traded to the New York Islanders with Thomas Hickey for Nino Niederreiter and a 3rd round draft pick
Nikolai Khabibulin, Edmonton – 12-20-7, 2.65 GAA, .910 Save % Prediction: will not find any takers and will remain with the Oilers
Miikka Kiprusoff, Calgary – 35-22-11, 2.35, .921 Save % Prediction: will not find any takers and will remain with the Flames
Sergei Bobrovsky, Philadelphia – 14-10-2, 3.02, .899 Save % Prediction: will be traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a 4th round draft pick and Korbinian Holzer
Potential goaltending duos for next season:
Anaheim Ducks: Jonas Hiller-Jonas Gustavsson
Boston Bruins: Tuuka Rask-Ray-Emery
Buffalo Sabres: Ryan Miller-Jhonas Enroth
Calgary Flames: Miikka Kiprusoff-Henrik Karlsson
Carolina Hurricanes: Cam Ward-Brian Boucher
Chicago Blackhawks: Tim Thomas-Corey Crawford
Colorado Avalanche: Semyon Varlamov-J-S Giguere
Columbus Blue Jackets: Josh Harding-Steve Mason
Dallas Stars: Kari Lehtonen-Richard Bachman
Detroit Red Wings: Jimmy Howard-Joey MacDonald
Edmonton Oilers: Devan Dubnyk-Nikolai Khabibulin
Florida Panthers: Jose Theodore-Jacob Markstrom
Los Angeles Kings: Jonathan Quick-Al Montoya
Minnesota Wild: Niklas Backstrom-Scott Clemmensen
Montreal Canadiens: Carey Price-Peter Budaj
Nashville Predators: Pekka Rinne-Anders Lindback
New Jersey Devils: Martin Brodeur-Johan Hedberg
New York Islanders: Jonathan Bernier-Evgeni Nakobov (Rick Dipietro on the disabled list)
New York Rangers: Henrik Lundqvist-Martin Biron
Ottawa Senators: Craig Anderson-Ben Bishop
Philadelphia Flyers: Ilya Bryzgalov-Michael Leighton
Phoenix Coyotes: Mike Smith-Jason Labarbera
Pittsburgh Penguins: Marc-Andre Fleury-Curtis Sanford
San Jose Sharks: Antti Niemi-Thomas Greiss
St. Louis Blues: Jaroslav Halak-Brian Elliott
Tampa Bay Lightning: Roberto Luongo-Mathieu Garon
Toronto Maple Leafs: Sergei Bobrovsky-James Reimer
Vancouver Canucks: Corey Schneider-Tomas Vokoun
Washington Capitals: Braden Holtby-Michal Neuvirth
This will certainly make for a very interesting summer of speculation and surprises as there will be a lot of movement in front of the crease, starting July 1st, since goaltending has become a major component of successful Stanley Cup teams in recent years. The last four remaining Stanley Cup teams have been relying on top netminders in this year’s playoffs (Brodeur, Quick, Lundqvist and Smith); as a result, most teams that did not have a true #1 goalie this season will be ready to pay a steeper price in order to solidify the most important position in hockey.
Related The Hockey Writers articles:
Trading Thomas: Will the Bruins Deal the Veteran ‘Tender? by Bob Mand
10 Potential Tampa Bay Lightning Goaltenders for 2012-13 by Justin Godfrey
I’m looking forward to reading your comments and predictions regarding the above scenario.
Follow Fred Poulin on Twitter for all your 2012 NHL Draft prospect needs and get more information on the NHL.
This article was originally published at: The Hockey Writers.
from The Hockey Writers » Montreal Canadiens http://thehockeywriters.com/the-2012-summer-goalie-market/
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