With the 2014-15 NHL season now over and the entry draft just a couple weeks away rumors are really starting to fly.
The latest has the Calgary Flames, who may not be entirely happy with their goaltending situation, linked to Ottawa Senators goaltender Robin Lehner.
From Bruce Garrioch (Ottawa Sun): It's believed six or seven teams -- including Buffalo, Edmonton and Calgary -- have called Murray to show interest in 23-year-old Lehner while St. Louis and San Jose are both looking for immediate help and are sniffing around to see what it would take to get the 34-year-old Anderson.
On first glance I could see why they'd want Lehner in the short-term. While Jonas Hiller is a good starting goaltender he's not a guy who can trot out and give you 70 starts a season.
Karri Ramo probably isn't worth the money he'll want and Lehner could give the Flames some quality starts when Hiller needs a night off.
Beyond that Lehner doesn't make much sense for the Flames, though.
The Sens are rumored to be looking for a top-6 forward - and potentially a draft pick as well - for Lehner and, quite frankly, I don't think it'd be smart for the Flames to trade some of their scoring for a guy who will sit on the bench more games than not.
Beyond that the Flames already have a couple good, young goalie prospects who leave plenty of reason to be optimistic going forward.
Jon Gilles is an absolute stud and doesn't look far away from an NHL job. It's entirely possible he's ready for NHL duty in 2016-17.
The Flames also invested a 2nd round pick in Mason McDonald, who looks very promising, at the 2014 draft.
McDonald posted a .906SV% with Charlottetown last season in the high scoring QMJHL. Those numbers don't look overly impressive but it's worth noting overage goaltender Marvin Cüpper was the only guy who had a better save percentage during the regular season.
In essence the Flames already have a solid starter in Jonas Hiller and there are a couple high-end goaltending prospects on the way.
Trading an established NHL player for a guy the team doesn't necessarily need seems like a questionable idea, which is why I can't see it happening.
Time will tell if that's the case.
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