In an article for CBS Sports yesterday, Elliotte Friedman wrote that at least part of the reason why the Pittsburgh Penguins made a move to trade for impending UFA Tomas Vokoun and immediately sign the veteran to a two-year contract was that they were
competing with the Flyers to acquire the veteran netminder. Ultimately, the Flyers' lack of tagging space until July 1 precluded a move.
The 36-year-old Vokoun will now serve as the backup to Marc-Andre Fleury, but is likely to play much more frequently during the 2012-13 regular season than Brent Johnson did this past season. This year, Johnson only got into 16 games while Fleury appeared in 67 games and played a whopping 3,896 minutes.
Apart from spelling Fleury in the regular season, Vokoun is also capable of pushing Fleury for playing time in the postseason if the latter struggles the way he did in the playoff series against the Flyers this year.
While having a Fleury/Vokoun goaltending tandem could be a boon to the Penguins, it also means the club will now have $7 million of cap space tied up in their goalies for the next two years. That's still not as much as the Flyers. Between Ilya Bryzgalov and Sergei Bobrovsky, Philly currently has $7.4 million of cap space used on goaltending.
If the report is accurate that the Flyers pursued a trade for Vokoun, it appears more likely that the club does not intend to bring Sergei Bobrovsky back for a third season. While they could always change their minds, it appears that the club is intent on bringing in a veteran backup to serve as the team's second goaltender next season.
But what sort of veteran should the Flyers go after? Should they go after a Vokoun type who has considerable starting experience and could potentially push Bryzgalov if he struggles again with consistency? Should they go after a mid-tier veteran (ala Chris Mason) who won't rock the boat but who makes about as much as Bobrovsky? Should they get some cap relief with a discount veteran backup (ala Johnson or deposed Dallas backup Andrew Raycroft) who plays? Should they bring back a familiar face like Martin Biron if he does not re-sign with the Rangers?
Alternatively, if not Bobrovsky, should Philly seek a different young goalie? Should they trade for a promising young goalie (such as Nashville farmhand Jeremy Smith) who has been stuck behind other goalies at the NHL level? Or should they consider letting rookie Niko Hovinen compete with Bobrovsky at camp and then making a decision on what to do with Bobrovsky shortly before the start of the season?
As I indicated in my
May 25 blog, I would be fine with giving Bobrovsky another season. If there is a bonus cushion in the next CBA, Bobrovsky's cap hit during the season becomes much more manageable. I think Bobrovsky has not been a backup long enough to declare that he's not suited to the role. In fact, many of the league's better backups (ala Biron) were guys who seemed for years early in their careers to be on the brink of being starters.
I'd be interested in seeing the readers' opinions.
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