While hockey in the bubble showed Habs fans a glimpse of what the future could be with Suzuki and Kotkaniemi occupying bigger roles with the team, it also reminded them of how much of a force Carey Price can be. In 10 playoffs game, Price got 5 wins and 5 losses, but he got those with a 1.78 goal against average and a .936 save percentage. Those are top of the class numbers, but he posted them after a season in which he played 58 games and after a 4 months hiatus. Conclusion? A rested Carey Price is the best Carey Price meaning that getting a quality back-up should be atop the order of business for Marc Bergevin this offseason.
He tried last offseason, signing Keith Kinkaid to a 1 year-1,750,000 contract. Kinkaid was coming off two seasons in which he had played 41 games and that’s what caught Bergevin’s eye. This was a goaltender who was ready to play back-up but had the stamina to play half of the games in the season. In theory, it could have worked but in his last two seasons, his numbers weren’t trending in the right way 2.77 and 3.36 GAA with .913 and .891 SP. Nonetheless, Bergevin tried to roll the dice and he lost. In 3 games with the Habs, #37 had a 4.24 GAA and a .875 SP before he was sent down to Laval. In fact, Kinkaid’s biggest contribution to the Habs will remain the Kincode, that is to say his emoji-based account of every match.
As things currently stand, the Canadiens have got just under 63 million committed in cap space out of a possible 81.5 million. That does give Montreal some wiggle room, at least for this upcoming season. As Bergevin has stated time and time again he needs to go careful with his cap space since he’ll have quite a few big contracts to negotiate after this coming season (Danault, Gallagher, Petry and Tatar – if he choses to keep them all). Nevertheless, in his end of year press conference, the Habs GM said that he was aware of the importance of the back-up position and that the fact that he had 10 M per year committed to Price didn’t mean he wasn’t willing to splash out for a quality back-up.
Once Kinkaid was sent down to Laval, Charlie Lindgren took over as Price’s number 2 but he wasn’t entrusted with a game until it was crystal clear that Montreal would miss the playoffs (or would have missed the playoffs if 2020 had been a normal year). In 6 games, he had a 3.33 GAA and a.888 SP. Even though he’s still under contract with the team for next season, chances are he’s not the man for the job. But who could be? I guess camp will tell us more about what KHL new signing Vasili Demchenko can do but we all know that the transition KHL/NHL isn’t always easy…As for Cayden Primeau, I do think more seasoning in the AHL would be the best for him.
This offseason will have quite a few big names unrestricted free agent goaltenders and since Bergevin said that he’s willing to put up the cash for one, here are a few of the likely candidates. Corey Crawford: The Blackhawks are still in cap hell and if Crawford wanted to stay, he would have to do it at quite a discounted price. Under his expiring contract, he made 6 M a year and the Hawks have just over 7 M in cap space for the next season. Crawford is 35 years old, played 40 games and posted a 2.77 GAA and a .917 SP. Furthermore, he’s from Montreal and has worked with the Canadiens goalie coach Stephane Waite before. If it’s my call though, I stay away from him. Yes, he’s got good numbers, but he’s also got quite the injury history including two concussions in two years which is why he hasn’t played much in the last few seasons. Considering that Price has had a few run ins with injuries himself, it would make sense to get someone who doesn’t start with a couple of strikes against him health wise.
A glovefull of Corey Crawford's 46 saves in tonight's victory. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/VmKPnJfSFA
— Eric Lear (@BHTVeric) August 17, 2020
Robin Lehner: Yes, his contract will be up at the end of this season, but it seems more and more likely that Vegas will resign him when the time comes. He’s been the guy in Vegas this postseason and the further he takes them, the more value he gains. Currently on a 5 M cap hit contract, the 29-year-old will more than likely be looking for both a big raise and a starting role. If he gets that in Vegas, what then becomes of Marc-Andre Fleury? With 2 years left at a 7 M cap hit and a modified no trade clause (he submits a 10 team no trade list) he will not be easy to move. Clearly though, he is not happy with the current situation, he didn’t condemn his agent for posting THAT picture on Twitter, all he said was that he didn’t want to be a distraction for his team. With such a hefty price tag, it’s likely that Vegas will have to retain salary if they want to send him packing but even if they do that, I’d be very weary of going down the Fleury avenue. Firstly, if he’s not happy playing the second fiddle in the desert why would he want to do it in Montreal? Secondly, I doubt he’d be strong enough mentally to support the pressure that comes with minding the net in Montreal.
Marc-Andre Fleury's agent posts image implying Knights coach Peter DeBoer stabbed his client in the back. https://t.co/08zvLl1fmR pic.twitter.com/JhqaIVwysg
— theScore (@theScore) August 22, 2020
Brian Elliot: The Flyers have found their number one goaltender in young Carter Hart. Elliot once split the top job in St-Louis with Halak but since then, he seems destined to be a back-up. At 35, he won’t be looking for too much term and his cap hit was a reasonable 2 M, but his numbers aren’t great. This season, he played 31 games and had a 2.87 GAA and a .899 SP, career wise, he sits on 2.50 GAA and .912 SP. Much like Kinkaid last year though, his numbers are not trending the right way.
Thomas Greiss: At 34, Greiss is currently backing-up Varlamov in Long Island at a 3.3 M cap hit. This year, he played 31 games in which he had a 2.74 GAA and a .915 SP. Career wise, he’s got a 2.63 GAA and a .915 SP. Looking at the last few years though, his numbers fluctuate a lot and in my mind, that would make him a bit of a gamble.
Cam Talbot: His stay in the prairies probably didn’t go how he had hoped. He struggled in Edmonton and ended up being number 2 in Calgary. At 33, his last contract had a 2,750,000 cap hit and he played 26 games with a 2.63 GAA and a .919 SP. Overall, in his 7 year career, he has a 2.61 GAA and a .915 SP.
Braden Holtby: Looks like his time is up in Washington but at just 30 years old, I expect he’ll be looking to find a starter job elsewhere, so I won’t spend more time on him.
Anton Khudobin: The 34-year-old is a career back-up and a very good one at that. He spent the last 2 seasons in Dallas as insurance behind the oft injured Ben Bishop. Right now, he’s the guy in Dallas in the playoffs because Bishop is once more unavailable. His contract brought him 2.5 M a year and he has posted some great numbers this season, he played 30 games with a 2.22 GAA and a .930 SP. In 11 years, his overall numbers are also very good 2.46 GAA and .919 SP. Of course, the longer his playoffs run in Dallas is, the higher his contract demands are likely to be, but you get what you pay for in life.
ANTON KHUDOBIN
— Nathan “Grav" (@NathanGraviteh) November 24, 2019
HE IS NOT HUMAN. pic.twitter.com/eVIgTo0m6W
So, there you have it, for me, Khudobin is the horse I’d put my money one. I expect he’ll have plenty of suitors but if Bergevin really was serious when he said he was willing to pay-up, now’s the time to prove it. Of course, he’ll also be mindful of the upcoming expansion draft. The team can only protect one goaltender and since Carey Price has a no movement clause, he’ll have to be protected unless he agrees to waive it. That also means that he won’t be able to offer than kind of clause to Khudobin to entice him to sign though. Which goaltender do you think Bergevin should put on his shopping list?