The Free Agent Class of 2010 - Goaltenders

PRC — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 00:16:46 -0000

Free agency this year has been a buyer's market with regard to goaltenders. Martin Biron took a 60% pay cut, while Manny Fernandez is still looking for work. If Biron's agent miscalculated the market for his client this year, what do things look like next year, when Biron is once again unrestricted?

Sorted by save percentage, here's your Class of 2010. (* Stats aggregated from the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons.)

The Free Agent Class of 2010 - Goaltenders (UFAs)
Player Name	Age (2010)	Team	Cap Hit	GAA*	SV%*
Hiller, Jonas	28	ANA	$1,300,000	2.28	0.921
Luongo, Roberto	31	VAN	$6,750,000	2.36	0.918
Rinne, Pekka	27	NAS	$725,000	2.36	0.918
Biron, Martin	32	NYI	$1,400,000	2.67	0.917
Dubielewicz, Wade	31	MIN	$600,000	2.81	0.913
Ellis, Dan	30	NAS	$1,750,000	2.62	0.913
Valiquette, Steve	32	NYR	$725,000	2.54	0.911
Danis, Yann	29	NJD	$500,000	2.86	0.910
Niittymaki, Antero	30	TBL	$600,000	2.82	0.910
Nabokov, Evgeni	34	SAN	$5,375,000	2.28	0.910
Auld, Alex	29	DAL	$1,000,000	2.56	0.910
Johnson, Brent	33	PIT	$525,000	2.75	0.908
Mason, Chris	34	STL	$3,000,000	2.63	0.908
Theodore, Jose	33	WAS	$4,500,000	2.66	0.905
Turco, Marty	34	DAL	$5,700,000	2.59	0.903
Sanford, Curtis	30	MTL	$600,000	2.69	0.903
Sabourin, Dany	29	BOS	$600,000	2.80	0.902
Leighton, Michael	29	CAR	$600,000	2.88	0.901
Budaj, Peter	27	COL	$1,250,000	2.75	0.901
Lalime, Patrick	36	BUF	$1,000,000	2.94	0.898
Toskala, Vesa	33	TOR	$4,000,000	2.97	0.898
Climie, Matt	27	DAL	$525,000	2.92	0.894
Emery, Ray	27	PHI	$1,500,000	3.13	0.890
Hedberg, Johan	37	ATL	$1,087,500	3.47	0.889
Raycroft, Andrew	30	VAN	$500,000	3.42	0.886
Krahn, Brent	28	DAL	$550,000	9.00	0.667
Backlund, Johan	28	PHI	$800,000
Brodeur, Mike	27	OTT	$520,000
Munroe, Scott	28	NYI	$500,000

Some of these players obviously won't be re-signing NHL contracts. Patrick Lalime and Johan Hedberg are both over 35 with their best years behind them, so retirement looks likely. Others (Leighton, Sabourin, etc.) have been kicking around for a few years without finding stable work as a backup, and have been short-term, low-cost options for teams looking to fill a roster spot, so we probably won't see any bidding wars in 2010 for their services.

The real gems here are at the top, highlighted by a pair of players entering their prime (Pekka Rinne and Jonas Hiller) that are sure to cash in.

Prominent veterans also have their place on the list, and while some will likely re-sign with their current teams before the season ends (it would be difficult to picture Evgeni Nabokov anywhere other than San Jose, or Marty Turco anywhere other than Dallas), there are no guarantees.

The real question however, is whether there are enough vacancies to go around. Fortunately for Biron, it looks like he can probably sleep soundly knowing he can find work again next year. If not, there's always the KHL.

No vacancies

By my calculations, there are only 6 teams entirely set for the 2010-11 season: Columbus (Mason, Garon); Florida (Vokoun, Clemmensen); Montreal (Price, Halak); New York Islanders (Roloson, DiPietro); Ottawa (Leclaire, Elliott); Phoenix (Bryzgalov, Labarbera). All of the others have question marks, either because of aging veterans or because of inexperienced youngsters, or simply because they won't have anyone under contract.

Possibly looking for a starter?

Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, Nashville, Philadelphia, San Jose, St. Louis, Toronto, Vancouver

Dallas, Nashville, San Jose and Vancouver are easy to reason - they've all got starters that will be UFAs. If Ray Emery is able to beat out Brian Boucher for the starter's role in 2009-10, the Flyers could be in the same situation.

Detroit is looking at a 37 year-old Chris Osgood that struggled mightily as a 35 year-old (3.09 GAA, 0.887 SV%). Behind him they'll have Jimmy Howard, who's never seemed to be ready to make the jump to the NHL.

Los Angeles and St. Louis both have players under contract, but none that could be considered marquee players at this point. The Kings have Erik Ersberg and Jonathan Quick, with Jonathan Bernier waiting in the wings. Solid, but unspectacular. St. Louis will be relying on Ty Conklin to mind the nets, but he's hardly a sure thing - at 33, he's clocked only 149 NHL games up to this point and has never been a full-time starter.

Toronto will also be relying on an unproven netminder in Jonas Gustavsson. If things work out the way Brian Burke hopes, then Gustavsson will be a No. 1 goalie in this league. If not, Burke has the option to look elsewhere.

Uncertain backup situations

Anaheim, Atlanta, Boston, Buffalo, Carolina, Calgary, Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Edmonton, Nashville, New Jersey, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, Washington

A number of these teams may be counting on their younger players to step up. What happens if Jonas Hiller leaves Anaheim? Assuming J-S Giguere returns to form, who plays the supporting role - J-P Levasseur? Timo Pielmeier? In Carolina - Mike Murphy, Justin Peters? What happens in Minnesota with Josh Harding?

Finland has produced a number of top notch netminders recently. Can Rask (Boston), Niemi (Chicago), Helenius (Tampa Bay) continue the trend?

Who'll back up Ryan Miller and Marc-Andre Fleury? What about Martin Brodeur, who will be 38 - who will provide the insurance?

Will the Capitals want a veteran presence for Varlamov and/or Neuvirth?

A lot of questions. We could be looking at some musical chairs come Canada Day 2010.

Create your own scenarios

Download the Excel sheet here: Free Agent Class of 2010 - Goaltenders.

Poll

Who would you spend your money on in 2010?

Jonas Hiller

23 votes

Roberto Luongo

35 votes

Pekka Rinne

17 votes

Evgeni Nabokov

3 votes

Marty Turco

2 votes

Martin Biron