NHL Rumor Mill – March 18, 2024
NHL Rumor Mill – March 18, 2024
Goaltenders could be in high demand during this offseason. Check it out in today’s NHL Rumor Mill.
THE ATHLETIC: Jesse Granger recently examined what could be a busy trade market for goaltenders during the offseason.
The Boston Bruins’ Linus Ullmark, Calgary Flames’ Jacob Markstrom and Nashville Predators’ Juuse Saros were mentioned as potential trade candidates leading up to the March 8 trade deadline. Those three could be pursued by clubs looking to improve their goaltending this summer.
New Jersey Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald mentioned he’d like to “land one of these big fish” to share the goalie duties next summer with Jake Allen, who was acquired before the deadline from the Montreal Canadiens.
The Devils attempted to acquire Markstrom in February and could revisit those discussions with the Flames.
In Nashville, the Predators must decide if they’ll sign Saros to a contract extension, trade him or ship out promising netminder Yaroslav Askirov.
The Bruins, meanwhile, could maintain their goalie tandem of Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman. However, the return they could receive for a Vezina Trophy winner like Ullmark could be too tempting to pass up.
Granger also mentioned John Gibson has come up in trade rumors over the past two years with the Anaheim Ducks in rebuild mode. He has three more years left on his contract but perhaps retaining part of his $6.4 million cap hit might grease the skids for a trade this summer.
Other suitors for those goalies could include the Los Angeles Kings, Colorado Avalanche, Carolina Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs.
NASHVILLE HOCKEY NOW: Michael Gallagher noted a recent report by Granger’s colleague Pierre LeBrun suggesting the Devils might revisit their interest in Saros.
Predators GM Barry Trotz is keeping his offseason options open regarding his goaltending situation. Nevertheless, Gallagher pointed out that it would take “one doozy of a package” to pry Saros away from the Predators.
Trotz indicated he wouldn’t move Saros for “inadequate stuff from other teams, unproven stuff from other teams.” Gallagher believes the Devils offer would have to include a high-end player such as Dawson Mercer, a prospect such as Seamus Casey and a first-round pick to tempt the Predators GM.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Markstrom, Ullmark and Saros will be in high demand. Potential suitors should expect it will be expensive to acquire them.
Markstrom is the oldest (34) and carries a more expensive contract (two more years at $6 million annually) with a full no-movement clause. Ullmark (30) and Saros (28) each have a year remaining on their contracts with the same average annual value ($5 million) but the Bruins goalie has a 16-team no-trade clause that drops to a 15-team no-trade list on July 1.
Saros could be the easiest of the three to acquire because he lacks no-trade protection.