Ottawa Senators Not Alone Trading Wrong Goaltender

It was common knowledge the Ottawa Senators has to trade a goaltender. Craig Anderson, Robin Lehner and the newly signed Andrew Hammond were not going to coexist in the same crease. Lehner wound up odd man out, being traded to the Buffalo Sabres with veteran forward David Legwand for the 21st overall pick in the draft.

This trade and rumors of others got me thinking. Did the Ottawa Senators trade the right goaltender? Beyond Ottawa, are teams shopping the right goalies? Is trading the back-up goaltender with loads of potential the right thing to do?

In context I’m looking at the lower-than-expected salary cap for next season at $71.4 million. After trading Lehner, the Ottawa Senators have $10.7 million remaining in cap space. I realize they don’t have to use all of it, or any of it. But what if Anderson was the goalie traded? The different to the Ottawa Senators cap is nearly $2 million, which is significant when considering trades or free agent signings.

The gap is more dramatic looking at other situations. Take the Los Angeles Kings, whom moved Martin Jones in a trade with the Boston Bruins. Jones is an RFA whom will get a raise from his $550,000 base last year. Jones will not get Jonathan Quick money at $5.8 million per season which lasts until 2022. Considering Anze Kopitar enters the last year of his deal this season and will carry a bigger cap hit than the $6.8 million he does now, the difference could go to Kopitar.

Or another forward. What about more help on defense? Would they want to keep Justin Williams at that point or does Williams still test the market? There is still one more scenario that will unfold this week around Cam Talbot and the New York Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist, regarded as one of the best goaltenders in the world, has an $8.5 million cap hit. Talbot’s hit is $1.45 million before hitting free agency where he likely lands a $4-5 million per season deal.

That’s still $3.5 million dollars the Rangers could save by doing the unthinkable. I’m not suggesting the Rangers will trade Lundqvist. But for a team that lost in the Eastern Conference Final because they couldn’t score enough goals when players got hurt, wouldn’t the money be better spent on forwards whom put the puck in the net? And yet the trade rumors don’t surround the high-priced goalie, they surround Rick Nash.

There are other situations similar to the Ottawa Senators. Corey Crawford in Chicago and Tuukka Rask in Boston come to mind, particularly after the Bruins burned to the ground on Friday. But there still has to be a trade partner on the other side, which brings me back to the Ottawa Senators. GM Bryan Murray didn’t want to trade Lehner to the Sabres but that was his best deal. He doesn’t want to deal with Lehner being excellent in the division several times per year.

But Sabres GM Tim Murray wanted to go younger and less expensive for a high-upside goalie. I think you’ll see more of that if the Canadian dollar continues to lag and hurt the cap ceiling. What will be more interesting once expansion takes hold will the new teams take note of the new financial landscape and go after a big money goalie?

I think the landscape of the league will, over time, drive down the price on élite goaltenders. Professional sports teams tend to follow the leader, the champion. Crawford has a cap hit of $6 million and with the Blackhawks in tight to the cap it’s possible, though unlikely, he could be moved. After all the Blackhawks have Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith locked up long-term and that’s what teams are going to do going forward.

The Ottawa Senators had to make a deal with a goaltender. They found one, but did they move the right goaltender? And with trades yet to happen will general managers be bold and look to shop the élite, higher priced goalie? It would be met with fan rage and criticism but with salary cap questions and concerns looming, it could be the better move long-term for the Ottawa Senators and others.

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