Examining the Carolina Hurricanes’ Goalie Situation
By Alex Ohari
The Trade Market
In what should be a surprise to nobody, almost mid-way into January, that the goalie market around the NHL is pretty dry. Teams that are in the playoff hunt are obviously likely to hold on to their guys, which severely limits the amount of potential trade partners that are out there. And then when you analyze who may be available, it’s pretty slim pickings.
From what I can tell (along with the general consensus) is that the Canes’ best option if they go the trade route is Alexandar Georgiev, a 23-year old Bulgarian native currently with the New York Rangers. The immovable(?) contract of Henrik Lundqvist combined with the arrival of arguably the top goalie prospect in the world Igor Shestyorkin has found Georgiev on the outside looking in.
Despite that, he’s actually rather good. He’s played in 63 games since his arrival in New York back in 2017, compiling a 28-26-6 record, a 3.03 GAA and a .913 save percentage, which is pretty good considering how inept the Rangers have been defensively during that period. In about the same time frame, Lundqvist is 27-32-13, with a 3.09 GAA and a .908 save%, inferior numbers to Georgiev.
Georgiev would not be just a rental, stop-gap fix for Carolina either. He’s only 23 years old and still has a lot of room to grow. He’d be an RFA after the season, so still in team control. That said, I don’t think New York would be anxious to move him for cheap, especially not to a divisional foe. I won’t speculate on trades, but you probably have to figure a couple of second-round picks would have to go the Rangers’ way.
Beyond Georgiev, who is the most appealing option to me, you’re left with impending UFAs who teams could look to move as rentals. A quick scan around the league has the following guys meeting that criteria:
Craig Anderson (OTT)
Robin Lehner, Corey Crawford (CHI)
Jacob Markstrom (VAN)
Jimmy Howard (DET)
From a realistic standpoint, those 5 would be the most plausible options should Carolina have interest. Off the bat, Markstrom in Vancouver is sort of a wildcard right now. He’s in the midst of a career year, and the Nucks are still in the playoff hunt. Should they fall back, and can’t agree to an extension with Markstrom, they could look to get a big return on him, considering they have youngsters Thatcher Demko and Michael DiPietro waiting in the wings. But Markstrom was just named to the All-Star Game and would not come cheap.
Robin Lehner is another enticing option, even if just as a rental. He’s got a .922 save% for a weak Blackhawks team, coming off a career year as an Islander last season. However, Lehner was outdueled by Mrazek and McElhinney in round 2 of the playoffs last year, so Carolina could be reluctant to give up what would likely amount to a ransom for him.
The other 3 goalies (Crawford, Anderson, Howard) I only included to be thorough, but all are on the wrong side of 35 and having statistically bad seasons. They’ve all had success before, but I’m not sure Carolina would be eager to take a gamble on any of them turning back the clock. Personally, I would go the Nedeljkovic route before this one.