How the Markstrom, Kuemper trades changes the NHL goaltending market

Even though the Stanley Cup Final is gearing up for Game 6 on Friday night, there’s been a flurry of recent trade activity across the NHL. More specifically, a couple of goaltenders were moved in Jacob Markstrom heading to the New Jersey Devils and Darcy Kuemper making his way back to the Los Angeles Kings.

The goalie market is expected to be more active than usual this summer, and there could be several more starting and backup goalies on the move in the coming weeks. The 2024 NHL Draft is around the corner and there’s certainly a chance of some movement as team’s look to solidify their crease and needs for organizational goaltending depth with free agency just around the corner.

On today’s Daily Faceoff Live, Tyler Yaremchuk and Frank Seravalli dove into the goaltending market and had this to say on the outlook of trades now that both Markstrom and Kuemper have been moved:

Tyler Yaremchuk: Frank, I want to dig into this goalie market a little more, there are still four names on your trades targets list, who could be on the move. Juuse Saros, Linus Ullmark, the former Vezina trophy winner, Filip Gustavsson, and Elvis Merzlikins and his contract as well.

Those four names combined with three teams that we’ve kind of zeroed in on as teams that are still in the hunt for goaltending help, that being the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, and the Colorado Avalanche. First, what does the Markstrom deal specifically say about the value of goalies on the trade market?

Frank Seravalli: I think it’s actually pretty solid, and we’ll get into that in a second, but the biggest change to your point is that the market has changed in such a significant way in the last 24 hours. Maybe half of the teams that were in the goaltending market, have now solved their problem.

Kings, off the board, you look at the Devils, off the board, there set now with Jake Allen and Markstrom. That should actually be a heck of a tandem. There shouldn’t be many nights in an 82-game season that the Devils are longing for better goaltending. So, you can pretty much to me, in sharpie, put the New Jersey Devils back in the playoffs next season.

But, when it comes to the market as a whole, how many teams are really authentically looking? The Leafs are authentically looking, but they also have Joe Woll, who they’re a believer in if he can stay healthy. So they’re looking for someone to come in and it might not even be for the long term, is a key to point out for the Leafs.

And then you got the Sens, who it was a disaster last year with Korpisalo, and he needs, certainly some fixing. If not a buyout is heading his way. Then you start to look at the rest of the teams, the Avs, they still have Georgiev under contract, you know maybe what about the Hurricanes. I would still be surprised if they dipped that toe into the water, given how they’ve generally felt about goaltending.

I don’t think Utah is a team who needs goaltending as they’ve got two pretty good ones. I’m not really looking at a robust market, I think now, what the situation is, especially when you add in the free agents, Laurent Brossoit is a pretty good option, you’re dealing with more goalies available then there are teams that are authentically looking. That’s how the goalie market has changed in such an enormous way.

For more on the goalie market, Frank’s trade targets, and complete coverage of the Stanley Cup Final, watch the full episode here: