While there is still plenty of hockey to be played prior to July 1, it’s never to early to take a peek at what the goaltending market might look like once free agency starts.
It’s going to be an interesting year to see which goaltenders get paid the big bucks this summer. With many of the league’s star netminders locked up to contracts for the foreseeable future, teams might be looking to add depth at the position with the cast of pending unrestricted free agents.
One of the notable names that could hit the market is New Jersey Devils goaltender Jake Allen. The veteran netminder has been decent behind Jacob Markstrom this season, with a .911 save percentage in 25 games. He currently has a cap hit of $3.85 million.
Another interesting name is Ilya Samsonov. The Vegas Golden Knights netminder has been behind Adin Hill this season but has put up slightly better numbers than he did last year with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He is on a one-year contract with a $1.8 million AAV.
On Friday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton explained what he thinks about the goalie market heading toward the offseason.
Carter Hutton: It’s going to be tricky because a lot of these guys don’t have good numbers. Everybody’s sub .900 [save percentage] and a few guys have made a lot of money. Jake Allen is on a really good contract…I think he still gets a deal. The interesting one for me would be Ilya Samsonov and Dan Vladar. Those are the two guys that I still think have some upside, and you could probably squeeze them out. I wouldn’t be surprised if Samsonov tries to get a deal done earlier with Vegas. Now that Adin Hill’s in place, you can kind of get him on a two or three-year deal at a lower number because his numbers aren’t great. So, he would be the guy that I think is sought after for Vegas to stay and then they have their two guys moving forward.
Then, the other guy’s obviously [Alexandar] Georgiev. I feel like his game has been a little bit up and down. He’s played well as a plate for the San Jose Sharks. I think he’s going to have to take a pay cut to get somewhere. So this is a weaker market, comparatively, especially the way that most guys’ numbers are.
You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…