LA Kings: Evaluating the goaltender trade market

Earlier this week, we looked at some options the LA Kings could have should they dabble in the free-agent market for a netminder. Today, we try to uncover who could be had via trade.

A reminder that as of today, the Kings do have two goaltenders on NHL contracts in Pheonix Copley and Cal Petersen. Much of what they do in goal could depend on the situation with Petersen, who has a contract the Kings would love to get out from under. It is tough to envision a scenario where the Kings are able to move his contract in a pure salary dump, though stranger things have happened.

What could be a possibility, though, is that Petersen is moved in a package to bring back a piece to help the Kings. Perhaps a defenseman or a goaltender.

Let’s see who might be available on the trade market.

Top Notch

Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets

A perennial Vezina candidate, there are few better than Connor Hellebuyck. Over the past four seasons, he has been the only goaltender in the top ten in GSAx (per MoneyPuck) each season. In 2022-23, Helelbuyck ranked fourth in the category and finished the season tied for fourth in the NHL in save percentage. So why might he be available?

Well, no one really knows what direction the Winnipeg Jets are going. There was some in-fighting after comments made by head coach Rick Bowness that some players took offense to, and Hellebuyck himself said that he was “not interested in a rebuild.” The Jets have several older players on big contracts, and their 30-year-old netminder has just one year left on his deal at $6.16M, making him an attractive trade piece.

This would be a deal where LA would have to include Petersen to make the money work, and it would likely cost a first-round pick and a high prospect to go with it. The risk here would be Hellebuyck on an expiring contract.

If Winnipeg looks to rebuild, Hellebuyck would undoubtedly solve the goaltending issue for the LA Kings, that’s for sure.

(Side note – if I’m making a deal with Winnipeg, I’d prefer the Kings take a run at Pierre-Luc Dubois, but that’s for a different article).

Juuse Saros, Nashville Predators

This one feels much less likely than Hellebuyck. The Predators have a new regime in town as Barry Trotz has taken over as GM, while Andrew Brunette was just hired as their head coach. I can’t say for sure what Trotz’s plan will be as he approaches the offseason, but I’m not inclined to believe it involves moving his franchise goalie. The team could decide to play out this season, hopefully with a healthy Filip Forsberg, and try to right the ship.

As far as the contract goes, like Petersen, Saros has two years left at a $5M AAV. In terms of production, Saros is about as good as it gets. He led the NHL in GSAx and had the fifth-best save percentage in the league (.919) in 2022-23. There’s no doubting his ability.

This depends on what Nashville decides to do; like Hellebuyck, he’d be costly, but I don’t think Nashville needs to go down this road yet.

Thatcher Demko, Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks are an odd team to figure out in terms of the direction they’re going, but this doesn’t appear to be a team that’s ready to blow it up. That said, with some already big contracts and a looming extension for Elias Pettersson, the trade rumors started to swirl last season around California native Thatcher Demko.

There are a few reasons why. Though Demko is a good goaltender, he is making $5M AAV for the next three seasons, and Vancouver has some intriguing young goaltenders in their system. Spencer Martin got plenty of NHL action last season, appearing in 29 games. The results weren’t pretty, as he finished with a .875 save percentage, but he’s been a good AHL goaltender for a while now. Arturs Silovs has also been good in Abbotsford and is coming off an impressive World Championship tournament, leading Latvia to a bronze medal behind his .921 save percentage, which earned him tournament MVP honors.

Demko, though, does have a history of injury troubles. He missed a lot of time last season with a lower-body injury, and the end of his 2021-22 season also saw him needing some off-season work done. There’s risk there for a goalie owed $15M over the next three years. But make no mistake, he’s good. Before this season’s injury-riddled campaign, he had back-to-back seasons with a .915 save percentage and was top ten in GSAx in 2019-20.

Maybe the health concerns keep the cost reasonable? If so, I’m kicking those tires.

RFAs

Ilya Samsonov, Toronto Maple Leafs

I’m not sure if you heard, but the Toronto Maple Leafs have a new GM. Naturally, you’re never really sure what can happen with new management. Right now, the Leafs have three goaltenders in Matt Murray, Ilya Samsonov, and Joseph Woll. While Murray’s $4.6M deal is looking poor, it only has one year left. Woll, though, has looked the part. At just 24 years old, he saw significant time this season and posted a .932 save percentage, including a .915 in the playoffs. In addition to the .927 he put together in the AHL, this was a very good 2022-23 for Woll.

There’s likely to be some sort of changes in Toronto, and perhaps Samsonov is an odd man out in the crease. The 26-year-old Russian is coming off a quietly good season, going 27-10-5 with a .919 save percentage. He also finished 10th in GSAx (min 11 GP). He’s coming off a one-year, $2M deal and could be an attractive option at a price point that should be close to that.

Toronto would have no interest in Petersen in this deal, so LA would have to go elsewhere to find a taker for him, which would be difficult.

Jeremy Swayman, Boston Bruins

Likely Vezina winner, Linus Ullmark, is signed for two more seasons at $5M AAV. While Boston is going to be hard-pressed to find money, Swayman isn’t going to command a big contract. While his .920 save percentage was excellent, and he’s coming off back-to-back excellent seasons, he only made $1.05M and is still under team control. This move would require Boston to re-tool a bit and look to pluck someone from the Kings that would help fill out a roster that could be losing a handful of key forwards. A team that just signed David Pastrnak to a long-term deal and still has Brad Marchand and Taylor Hall under multi-year contracts isn’t going to do anything drastic up front.

Perhaps Swayman could net them some help up front in the way of an Arthur Kaliyev? This is a tricky one to figure out, as there are two teams with little money. A fit with the Bruins and LA Kings seems unlikely.

Mackenzie Blackwood, New Jersey Devils

Ok, I admit it, I am a Mackenzie Blackwood fan. I don’t have a great reason, but I’ve always liked the talent. The Devils already have Vitek Vanecek, and Akira Schmid started to make some noise this season. Not to mention prospect Nico Daws in the AHL. I think Blackwood is available, and I think he’s capable of being a good goaltender on the right team.

It’s been a rough few years for Blackwood. He’s dealt with multiple injuries, including this season, that have seen him exceed 30 games just once in the past three seasons. In those years, he’s posted .902, .892, and .893 save percentages. Not good. His current cap hit was $2.8M, which seems rich for what he’s brought lately. This could be a good opportunity for him to get a fresh start to regain the form he showed in the 2019-20 season, where he went 22-14-8 with a .915 save percentage and finished 5th in GSAx.

I can’t imagine a trade would be too costly; a mid-round pick and/or a mid-level prospect could give both teams some flexibility. But given the risk already in LA with Copley and Petersen, Blackwood doesn’t provide much stability.

Dark Horse

Carter Hart, Philadelphia Flyers

For years, the talk around the LA Kings and Philadelphia has been about one of the two left-shot defensemen on the Flyers, Travis Sanheim or Ivan Provorov. While I’m not convinced either of those makes much sense for either team right now, Carter Hart is an interesting name to consider for a trade.

The Flyers are nowhere close to being a competitive hockey team, and the 24-year-old Hart is arguably the team’s best trade chip in terms of stocking the prospect cupboard. GM Daniel Briere made some headlines when he said he would “have to listen” if teams were interested, though he did offer a little clarification afterward.

What’s most intriguing about this deal is the Flyers could comfortably take on Cal Petersen. The team has a few younger goaltenders – Felix Sandstrom, Samuel Ersson, and Ivan Fedotov – though I don’t think they are ready for full-time NHL duty. They could share the net with Petersen for a short time, which wouldn’t hurt the Flyers’ chances of finishing toward the bottom of the standings again. The cap isn’t much of an issue; Hart himself makes $3.9M.

It’s been a mixed bag for Hart since coming to the NHL. He started great in 2018-19, putting up a .917 save percentage in 31 games. Hart followed that up with a 24-13-3 record and a .914 save percentage in 43 games during 2019-20. He had the 7th best GSAx that season as well. It’s been a struggle since then, as things haven’t gone so well for him or the Flyers. He’s rattled off save percentages of .877, .905, and .907 the past three years.

LA has prospects a-plenty to send along with Petersen in the likes of Arthur Kaliyev, Jordan Spence, Alex Turcotte, Martin Chromiak, etc. The Flyers could do worse than picking from LA’s deep farm system to help re-stock their pool. If the team is going to waste the prime years of Hart anyways, they could accomplish the same place in the standings with Petersen, plus stockpile the farm.

The fit seems like a good one to me.

Salary figures per CapFriendly.com.

(Main Photo Credit: Derik Hamilton/AP)