LA Kings: Bargain shopping for UFA goaltenders

Beginning Saturday, July 1st at 9 am PT, teams can sign Unrestricted Free Agents. The LA Kings need a goaltender and, with limited cap space, are likely to look at the cheaper options.

The Fourth Period’s Dennis Bernstein reported on Thursday that the LA Kings are going to be looking for a goaltender for under $2 million:

Some LAK intel:

With PLD deal behind them, turning focus to acquiring a 2nd goaltender with NHL experience.

Don't expect big ticket move by GM Rob Blake – looking at $1-1.5M price tag to pair with Pheonix Copley.

A couple of names will surface by the time we leave Nashville.

— Dennis Bernstein (@DennisTFP) June 29, 2023

As a follow-up to that, Hockey Royalty’s Russell Morgan provided a few names that could fit that bill:

With @DennisTFP reporting the Kings looking for value in net, here are some UFAs to consider:

Cam Talbot
Antti Raanta
James Reimer
Jaroslav Halák
Laurent Brossoit
Joey Daccord#GoKingsGo

— Russell Morgan (@NHLRussell) June 29, 2023

With the help of Evolving Hockey, we will look at goalies that are projected to fall in that contract range for the LA Kings.

Alex Nedeljkovic – Evolving Hockey projection: 1-year, $1,956,000

As a rookie in Carolina in the 2020-21 season, Alex Nedeljkovic was one of the best goalies in the NHL. In 23 games, the Ohio native went 15-5-3 with a 1.90 GAA and .932 SV%. He was third in the NHL in Evolving Hockey’s GSAx behind only Marc-Andre Fleury and Connor Hellebuyck. The impressive season earned him All-Rookie Team honors, and was third in the Calder voting.

It was a curious decision when Carolina traded him to the Detroit Red Wings, but maybe they knew something we didn’t. In his two seasons with the Red Wings, Nedeljkovic has a 3.35 GAA and .900 SV%. He struggled so much last season that he found himself in the AHL.

Carolina is one of the teams which makes life easy on their goaltenders, but perhaps there’s the potential for the 27-year-old to have a bounce back in LA.

Laurent Brossoit – Evolving Hockey projection: 2 years, $1,591,000 AAV

It was an unfortunate end to the season for Laurent Brossoit. He suffered a groin injury during Vegas’ second-round series with Edmonton, cutting his playoff run short. Brossoit was very good when called upon for Vegas, as he was thrust into action when Logan Thompson and Adin Hill each suffered injuries of their own. On the season, Brossoit was 7-0-3 in 11 games with a 2.17 GAA and .927 SV%.

His GSAx for the season was good for 28th in the NHL. Ironically, he was sandwiched between LA Kings’ netminders Joonas Korpisalo (reflecting his 11 games with the Kings after the trade) and Pheonix Copley.

With Thompson under contract and the Golden Knights closing in on bringing Hill back, Brossoit is expected to be available on Saturday. The 30-year-old Alberta native could form a very capable tandem with LA’s strong defense.

Jaroslav Halak – Evolving Hockey projection: 1-year, $1,103,000

38-year-old Jaroslav Halak has bounced around recently, with the New York Rangers being his third team in the past three seasons. But he’s been a capable backup goaltender wherever he has been toward the tail end of his career. In 24 starts last season, Halak was 10-9-5 with a 2.72 GAA and .903 SV%. He was 33rd in Evolving Hockey’s GSAx for goaltenders who played at least ten games.

In my opinion, Halak is best suited as a pure backup. I’m not confident that he is a fit to play in a tandem role with Copley.

Alex Lyon – Evolving Hockey projection: 1-year, $977,900

Where would the Florida Panthers have been without Alex Lyon? He started 14 games for the Panther last season, most of which came down the stretch when they were fighting for their playoff lives. Overall, he posted a 9-4-2 record with a 2.89 GAA and .912 SV%. He finished the season 17th in GSAx, sandwiched between Philadelphia’s Carter Hart and Carlina’s Pyotr Kochetkov.

He eventually stumbled in the playoffs, giving way to Sergei Bobrovsky after a rough start to the series against the Boston Bruins. Despite last season’s strong 14 starts, Lyon has only one other time started double-digit games in the NHL and hasn’t done so since the 2017-18 season. I wouldn’t get too excited by last season’s numbers.

James Reimer – Evolving Hockey projection: 1-year, $1,592,000

Like Nedeljkovic, James Reimer was one of the worst goaltenders in the NHL last season. He posted the 14th-worst GSAx to go along with a 3.48 GAA and a .890 SV% with the San Jose Sharks. That said, just the season prior in San Jose, Reimer was quite the opposite. He finished in the top 20 in GSAx and posted an impressive .911 SV%. As it turns out, the 2022-23 season was the first time Reimer finished with a SV% below .900 in his career.

The 35-year-old has spent the last two seasons in California, and his contract would align with where the LA Kings will be shopping. If last season was an outlier, the Kings could have a bargain.

Anthony Stolarz – Evolving Hockey projection: 2 years, $1,720,000

Anaheim’s Anthony Stolarz had a poor 2022-23 campaign in terms of surface numbers – 3.73 GAA and .897 SV%. However, he was actually in the positive in GSAx, finishing 39th, just behind Frederik Andersen and ahead of Jacob Markstrom, Triston Jarry, and Marc-Andre Fleury. He did this on a team that, per Natural Stat Trick, allowed the most Scoring Chances and High Danger Chances – by far.

Even with the down 2022-23, Stolarz is in the top 30 goaltenders in GSAx over the past two seasons combined – and he’s top 25 in the past three seasons.

In 2021-22, Stolarz was 12-8-3 with a 2.67 GAA and .917 SV%. That year, he was 20th in GSAx. Since coming into the NHL in 2016-17, the New Jersey native is just outside the top 30 in GSAx.

The 29-year-old Stolarz could be a sneaky addition between the pipes for the LA Kings.

(Main Photo Credit: Tony Gutierrez, AP Photo)