With the deadline just 10 days away I thought it would be worth having a more focussed discussion thread about our trade targets. This thread is dedicated to
backup goalies, and to start the discussion off below is my top 10 list of trade deadline backup goalie targets.
Top 10 Trade Deadline Targets: Backup goalies
1. Jonathan Bernier, $3m x 1
Has a winning record on a brutally bad team, at 8-6-0, with a 0.918 sv% and 2.78 GAA. He's a known entity for the Avs as well, so would be able to slot seamlessly into the organisation... assuming that he's healthy again of course. Elliott Friedman linked us to him when the Johansson trade happened.
2. James Reimer, $3.4m x 1
If Carolina decide to move Reimer to create capspace for a forward add he would be a good option. 14-4-1, 0.905 sv%, and 2.71 GAA. His career numbers in 11 playoff games are also solid: 5-5-0, 0.925 sv%, and 2.70 GAA.
3. Linus Ullmark, $2.6m x 1
Somehow has managed to have a winning record the last 3 seasons in Buffalo, and this season he has very good numbers: 6-5-3, 0.920 sv%, and 2.49 GAA.
4. Chris Driedger, $850k x 1
He'd be at the top of this list if not for the fact that Florida probably don't want to move him, so it would take an overpayment to get him. Nonetheless, he's posted excellent numbers this year: 10-4-2, 0.927 sv%, 2.18 GAA. Including last season his numbers are even more impressive: 17-6-3, 0.931 sv%, 2.13 GAA.
5. Antti Raanta, $4.25m x 1
5-4-2, .913 sv%, 3.20 GAA. Would be a solid addition, though there are legitimate concerns about his injury proneness.
6. Joonas Korpisalo, $2.8m x 2
Hasn't had the best season, with pedestrian numbers: 8-10-6, 0.899 sv%, 3.02 GAA. However, his play in last years playoffs was phenomenal, and the hope would be that he can find that form again: 3-5-0, 0.941 sv%, 1.90 GAA. There's also the risk of losing him to Seattle if we don't do a handshake deal with Grubauer, which makes it risky to pay a high price for him.
Note: Merzlikins could be a possibility as well, but I see that as more of an offseason move if Grubauer prices himself out so I haven't included him in this list.
7. Darcy Kuemper, $4.5m x 2
Has put up good but unspectacular numbers this year, 7-7-2, .914 sv%, 2.41 GAA. With an extra year on his deal there would need to be some significant retention to make it viable going into next season (assuming that Grubauer resigns), unless of course the plan is to treat him as a pure rental and have Seattle take him. It doesn't seem very realistic as a solution for the Avs, but would nonetheless be worth exploring as an option for due diligence purposes.
8. Frederik Andersen, $5m x 1
Has had a relatively poor and injury-riddled year, but if he's healthy and Toronto want to move him as a cap dump to open up space for another goalie then he might be a legitimate option as a 1B/backup for Grubauer. This season he is 13-8-2, .897 sv%, 2.91 GAA. In 53 playoff games he has a 27-23-0 record, .916 sv%, and 2.55 GAA.
9. Scott Wedgewood, $700k x 1
He has limited NHL experience, but might be a decent buy-low candidate if he can put up similar numbers to those he's posted this season, albeit in a small sample size: 3-5-3, .914 sv%, 2.72 GAA. New Jersey fans reckon he's worth around a 4th or maybe 5th.
10. Ryan Miller, $1m x 1
He's had an up-and-down year, sometimes looking great (like the last game we played against them), but other times looking over-the-hill. His numbers aren't great, 3-8-1, .882 sv%, and 3.60 GAA, but perhaps he could be a solid enough option behind the leagues best defense.
Honourable mentions: Alexandar Georgiev, David Rittich
Dis-honorable mentions: Devan Dubnyk