Sunday, June 20, 2010

Goalie glut this summer

We are going to see a glut of goalies on the free agent market this summer which might mean some pretty good buys. Not a lot of teams are looking for starting goalies and no one spends much on backup which is why Andrew Raycroft may continue to find employment in the NHL.  Here is the class of 2010 for free agent (unrestricted) goalies:

Dan Ellis, Chris Mason, Ray Emery, Evgeni Nabokov, Marty Turco, Vesa Toskala, Martin Biron, Antero Niittymaki, Alex Auld, Andrew Raycroft, Johan Hedberg, Patrick Lalime, Michael Leighton, Manny Legace, Wade Dubielewicz, and Joey MacDonald.

There is a fair amount the choose from.  Below are the tentative #1 goalies for all 30 NHL teams. Keep in mind that the RFAs but are expected to resign with their respective teams. Certainly I expect that both San Jose and Philadelphia will likely upgrade through free agency and there is lots to choose from. Many of the goalies above would love to be a starting goalie but they will have to come in with reasonable salary demands to get their wish. Not only that but I can also see Tim Thomas put on the trade market just one season after winning a Vezina.

Pacific Division
Anaheim Ducks: Jonas Hiller
Dallas Stars: Kari Lehtonen
Los Angeles Kings: Jonathan Quick/Jonathan Bernier
Phoenix Coyotes: Ilya Bryzgalov
San Jose Sharks: Thomas Greiss

Central Division
Chicago Blackhawks: Antti Niemi (RFA)
Columbus Blue Jackets: Steve Mason
Detroit Red Wings: Jimmy Howard/Chris Osgood
Nashville Predators: Pekke Rinne
St. Louis Blues: Jaroslav Halak (RFA)

Northwest Division
Calgary Flames: Miikka Kiprusoff
Colorado Avalanche: Craig Anderson
Edmonton Oilers: Nikolai Khabibulin
Minnesota Wild: Niklas Backstrom
Vancouver Canucks: Roberto Luongo

Atlantic Division
New York Rangers: Henrik Lundqvist
New York Islanders: Dwayne Roloson/Rick Dipietro
New Jersey Devils: Martin Brodeur
Philadelphia Flyers: Brian Boucher
Pittsburgh Penguins: Marc-Andre Fleury

Northeast Division
Boston Bruins: Tukka Rask/Tim Thomas
Buffalo Sabres: Ryan Miller
Montreal Canadiens: Carey Price (RFA)
Ottawa Senators: Brian Elliott
Toronto Maple Leafs: Jean-Sebastian Giguere

Southeast Division
Atlanta Thrashers: Ondrej Pavelec (RFA)
Carolina Hurricanes: Cam Ward
Florida Panthers: Tomas Vokoun
Tampa Bay Lightning: Mike Smith
Washington Capitals: Semyon Varlamov

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