According to the latest NHL trade rumors, here are three goaltenders that could be on the trade market.
With the flood of goaltenders hitting the open market and the salary cap remaining flat, many teams are re-evaluating how they’re going to address their goaltending situations. This offseason could be a huge one for NHL trade rumors.
Some teams will be trying to offload contracts while other teams have seen their starter lose their job to a more promising option. Here are three goalies that could be on this year’s trade market.
1. Darcy Kuemper – Arizona Coyotes
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The Arizona Coyotes went from being a promising team to a train wreck very quickly. Both the Phil Kessel and Taylor Hall trades did not pan out and the team did not perform up to their expectations.
They got eliminated by the Colorado Avalanche in just 5 games and lost 7-1 twice in that series. With the added loss of a 2020 second-round and 2021 first-round pick due to their violation of the NHL’s draft combine rules, this makes for a very messy situation for the Coyotes.
The Coyotes will be looking to shed some salaries this offseason and there have already been talks about trading their captain, Oliver-Ekman Larsson. Elliotte Friedman has also reported numerous times that Darcy Kuemper has been drawing a lot of interest.
This team will be dealing from a position of strength as both Antti Raanta and Adin Hill had really strong seasons. While Kuemper is a good goaltender, Rannta proved that he can be trusted as well, playing 33 games with a .921 save percentage. Hill is now an RFA but would be inexpensive to re-sign. Another important factor is that Kuemper’s contract extension kicks in next season as he goes from 1.85 million dollars to 4.5.
Arizona has shown that they are not that good but have promising young pieces to build around. If the Coyotes are truly going on a retooling path, players like Larsson and Kuemper would bring back significant returns which will be key in replenishing the picks the NHL took from them.