All this talk about drafting goalies. What about going the Finnish FA route again and get another Niemi/Raanta? Speaking of the latter, was it Quenneville's handling of him that forced the hand of trading him out of town?
At the time Darling was outplaying him, and both he and Darling were coming due when Crawford was still in the middle of his deal and playing at a high level.
Plus, I think some of his comments (misconstrued or not) forced their hand.
Not ever goalie taken via that route makes it and as I mentioned if we're looking for a potential Crawford successor it has to be a goalie who can play behind *this* team defense--which is one of if not the worst in the league and definitely the worst a 'hawks team has had since MTV showed a video, the band Poison was relevant and Members Only™ jackets were in style. That's a tall order.
Not that I'd be against keeping all options open but personally I think the 'hawks trying to kill themselves to sign a goalie capable of carrying the team as-constructed for the next couple of years if a fool's errand--unless of course something happens/someone is acquired that makes the team D not a laughingstock. I think at this point they should be keeping to the script based on what is in net and developing/strengthening/shoring up their team D so that in a couple of years they can get a starter-average goalie and make a dent--not need elite goaltending just to tread water at the playoff line.
