The Flyers have had a whirlwind of an offseason. With a new-look defense and a forward group with a facelift, there’s only one position left for general manager Chuck Fletcher to address and that’s the goaltending. A few weeks back, we looked at cheap, more likely options at backup goaltender, but what if Fletcher goes all out to find Hart a quality tandem partner? Thanks to a flurry of other trades, the Flyers are pretty close to the salary cap so there will need to be some retained salary from the original team for any deal to work. If Fletcher does indeed to go big game hunting on the goaltending market, who could be a possible target?
Jonathan Quick
Two years, $5.8 million aav
The list of accolades the soon-to-be 36-year-old Jonathan Quick has on his resumé is quite impressive. Two Stanley Cups, a Conn Smythe Trophy, two Jennings Trophies as well as three all-star appearances and an Olympic silver medal for good measure. As he continues to age and youngster Cal Petersen continues to develop, both his role and play have diminished over the last few seasons. The Kings are in the market to fast-track their rebuild and could look to gather an asset or two for an aging player no longer in the cards. If the Kings were to retain half of his salary, that’d be a $2.9 aav, a reasonable price the Flyers could attain. The Flyers managed to keep their prospect pool intact during other offseason moves and could probably put an enticing package together for the Kings, who are still in the throes of a youth movement.
Marc-André Fleury
One year, $7 million aav
Fleury is like a fine wine, just keeps getting better with age. He won his first Vezina trophy in 2021 during his age 36 season. Despite his spectacular play, Fleury has been in the trade rumor mill for quite some time. As Vegas continues to build towards a Stanley Cup, they have made significant additions throughout their lineup, but their goalie tandem of Fleury and Robin Lehner clocks in at a cool $12 million combined cap hit. Fleury could be the perfect option for a 1B goaltender, has all the knowledge in the world as a three-time Stanley Cup champion that he could pass to Carter Hart, but his cap hit partnered with the limited space that both Vegas and the Flyers have makes a trade difficult. Even if Vegas eats half of his salary, $3.5 million, that’d still be close to the upper limit the Flyers could spend on a goaltender. Though would Vegas want that much dead cap even if it’s just for one season? It’d be a really interesting option, but it doesn’t feel like the stars are going to align for this one.
Carey Price
Five years, $10.5 million aav
There were many interesting names to hit the unprotected list during the Seattle expansion draft, but maybe none bigger than Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price. While there was some posturing from the Habs, the move was made so the Habs could protect Jake Allen. It sounded like Seattle did their due diligence but ultimately chose not to select the soon-to-be 34 year old. Even though he survived the expansion, maybe the door is still open to move him out of Montreal. Carey Price is a man of two different faces. When he is on his game, he’s simply the best in the world, something he put on display during the playoffs when he carried the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup Final, unfortunately, that side of Price has been fewer and far between as he continues to age. Though he is the idol of Carter Hart and who better to sit under the knowledge tree of than your idol who just happens to be one of the best to do it? The price tag, both financially and trade wise will be almost impossible for the Flyers to swallow right now, but it is a fatanasy matchup that not only give the Flyer two top goalies, but gives Carter Hart the best possible chance to succeed.
Sergei Bobrovsky
Five years, $10 million aav
One of the more baffling things that has happened in the NHL lately was the Florida Panthers drafted top goalie prospect Spencer Knight then a week later signed free agent Sergei Bobrovsky to a seven-year, $70 million contract. Now Knight is on the scene and Bobrovsky has five years left on his contract and his play has been anything but stellar. It’s only a matter of time before Florida actively shops Bobrovsky, but that contract is something that may not be moveable for the foreseeable future. With just a .906 save percentage and 2.91 goals against average during the 2021 season and a measly .902 save percentage and 3.10 goals against average in 81 games during his tenure with the Florida Panthers, it’d best the Flyers avoid a reunion with Bobrovsky.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
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