NHL Draft, Round 2: The day that changed the goalie market

And so Day 2 of the 2022 NHL Draft became the day of the goalie. And for teams like Edmonton and Toronto, who are still looking for goaltending solutions, an already tight market got even tighter with Washington joining the fray.

Here’s a look at the final day of the 2022 Draft.

Ville Husso was one of the few emerging netminders set to hit the free agent market, and while there are still lots of questions about his upside and his ability to be a No. 1 NHL netminder, Detroit rolled the dice hoping he can at least compete with Alex Nedeljkovic for a chance to become the Red Wings’ starter of the future. Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman acquired Husso, 27, from St. Louis for a third-round pick in the Draft. The Red Wings then signed Husso to a three-year deal with an average annual cap hit of $4.75 million. Nedeljkovic, 26, has one more year left on his deal at $3 million, so Yzerman has ensured goaltending certainty beyond the coming season. Can the tandem help push the rebuilding Red Wings into the playoff discussion next spring? If Husso, who came on in relief of a shaky Jordan Binnington during the regular season and was stellar, going 25-7-6 with a .919 save percentage, can replicate that level of performance, the answer is yes. But Husso gave way to Binnington early in the playoffs and then when called on after Binnington was injured against Colorado, Husso struggled. So there is that to consider, too.

If you had to pinpoint one glaring weakness for the New Jersey Devils in recent years – they have qualified for the playoffs just once in the past 10 seasons – it is a lack of consistent goaltending. Injuries and ill-advised guesses on who might rise up and take over the starting role that has been a wasteland since Martin Brodeur departed have blunted the Devils’ efforts to get back to relevance. Is Vitek Vanecek the answer? GM Tom Fitzgerald hopes that is the case. The Devils acquired the 26-year-old Czech netminder from Washington Friday morning sending the 37^th and 70^th picks in the Draft to the Caps. The Devils also got the 46^th pick in the Draft from Washington. Not unlike the Husso/Nedeljkovic scenario in Detroit, there are still plenty of questions about whether Vanecek is ‘The Guy.’ The Devils are a team that needs to show some progress, and solidifying the goaltending position is key to that. Just not sure Vanecek, 21-10-4 during the regular season with a .908 save percentage, actually holds that key. He was the Caps’ playoff starter but was yanked in Game 2 and never returned. This is a critical season for the Devils and for Vanecek who is a restricted free agent.

So, the goaltending carousel sped up on Day 2 with Vanecek and Husso changing homes. That follows Marc-Andre Fleury’s re-upping with the Minnesota Wild on a two-year deal and Colorado’s acquisition of former New York Ranger backup Alexandar Georgiev. That still leaves Edmonton, Toronto and Buffalo among the teams still looking for goaltending answers. Jack Campbell and Darcy Kuemper are the key UFA goalies expected to come to market on July 13 and given the logjam of teams looking for help, it’s setting up a dynamic where both Campbell and Kuemper may end up with deals that have the potential to crush the teams who acquire them. The real answer for teams in the goaltending market may be in getting more creative with a trade given the dollar and term both Kuemper and Campbell are going to be looking for and the relative uncertainty regarding whether they can take those teams where they need to get to.

With Washington dealing Vanecek it joins the goaltending fray as well. The Caps must resign Ilya Samsonov, who is a restricted free agent, but Washington will also be looking for an experienced netminder to fill the void created by Vanecek’s departure. In fact, GM Brian MacLellan acknowledged that he isn’t really sure how it will all shake out for the Caps when it comes to goaltending, suggesting all options are open for the Caps.

I’m just surmising given the movement between the pipes that this may revive talk of Anaheim exploring moving John Gibson, who is under contract at $6.4 million annually through 2026-27. There had been buzz earlier that new GM Pat Verbeek might be interested in moving on the goalie the Ducks took 39^th overall in 201,1 but that quieted down. With Campbell and Kuemper each likely looking to cash in at a higher number, does Gibson become an option for a team like Edmonton or Washington?

As for anyone imagining that Minnesota signing Marc-Andre Fleury for two more years might open the door to a Cam Talbot trade, doesn’t sound like Minnesota GM Bill Guerin is thinking along those lines. Courtesy of veteran Minnesota beat writer Mike Russo, this is what Guerin had to say regarding some comments Talbot’s agent George Bazos made about the goaltending situation. “I don’t have shit to do. Cam Talbot’s under contract. George can say whatever the hell he wants. My team’s set right now and that’s the way it goes. We can have all the discussions we want. Cam’s a member of our team. We really like Cam. All we’re trying to do is win.”

Duncan Keith is a first-ballot Hall of Famer and the greatest defenseman in Chicago Blackhawks history. He deserves all kinds of respect as he prepares to formally announce his retirement. It still doesn’t mitigate the questionable nature of the deal that brought him to Edmonton. He did show flashes of his old brilliance as the Oilers advanced to the conference final for the first time since 2006, but he also struggled at times to keep up with the pace of the game, and it’s difficult to see how he would have fit in 2022-23 with the Oilers looking to take another step forward. Still, give GM Ken Holland credit for a deal that does not hurt the team vis a vis the cap moving forward as it’s Chicago that will bear the brunt of cap recapture penalties (not that the Blackhawks are going to be near the cap as they rebuild). The Oilers get a much-needed $5.54 million in cap space that would have gone to Keith and the Blackhawks are on the hook for about $7.5 million over the next two seasons according to CapFriendly.com.

Count me among those who were skeptical when Carolina signed Tony DeAngelo to a bargain-basement one-year deal last year after DeAngelo was drummed out of New York by the Rangers for some personality/disciplinary issues. But DeAngelo was a model citizen in Raleigh and produced at an eye-popping rate – 51 points in 64 games – quarterbacking a top-10 Hurricanes power play. He also added 10 post-season points in 14 games although he did melt down a bit against his old team, the Rangers, in the second round. But you knew the clock was ticking on DeAngelo’s time in Carolina after GM Don Waddell allowed DeAngelo and his representatives to seek out a possible landing spot for the restricted free agent. And before the first pick was made in Round 2 on Friday, DeAngelo was headed home (more or less) to the Philadelphia Flyers along with a 7^th round pick in this year’s draft while the Flyers sent three picks, a second-round pick in 2024, a third-round pick in 2023 and the 101^st pick in 2022, to Carolina for DeAngelo. The Flyers then signed DeAngelo, 26, to a two-year extension worth $10 million total. DeAngelo immediately steps into a prominent role with the Flyers, who don’t know when or if Ryan Ellis will be able to return from injury. In spite of trepidation from some fans about how DeAngelo will fit under new head coach John Tortorella, he should thrive, as Tortorella’s ‘Safe is death’ approach to the game should appeal to the riverboat gambler DeAngelo while his’s edgy style should appeal to Tortorella.

So, where does this leave the Hurricanes, who were one of the top teams during the regular season, winning the Metropolitan Division but never quite hitting their stride in the playoffs? With DeAngelo gone the Hurricanes still have nine free agents (RFA and UFA) to deal with in coming up with a 2022-23 roster. Waddell’s top priorities will be in figuring out what happens in the No. 2 center position, but now, with DeAngelo gone, I have to imagine the focus will be on replacing those points from the back end. There isn’t anyone on the roster who can do what DeAngelo did, so that means a trade or free agency as an avenue for filling that void. The Hurricanes have tons of cap space to play with but my personal favorite fit would be pending UFA John Klingberg, who isn’t expected to return to Dallas.

NHL Draft, Round 2: The day that changed the goalie market

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