Florida Panthers: Three Out-of-Place Goalies the Cats Should Pursue
Goaltending has been a key issue for the Florida Panthers this season. We’ve heard this a million times before.
With Roberto Luongo dealing with injuries seemingly all season, and James Reimer struggling to fulfill his expectations, the Florida Panthers have lost out on a lot of points this season.
This isn’t a team that needs to be losing 6-1 to the Toronto Maple Leafs with Luongo in net. At the beginning of the year, the team’s expectations for these kinds of games was to be winning, no matter how good the Leafs are, especially after outplaying and beating them in overtime just two weeks ago.
Ultimately, the Panthers need to pull the plug and make a move. It may be seen as a panic move by the rest of the NHL, but with these three goalies in complicated situations of their own, the Panthers need to be the one to snatch at the opportunity.
Look at the Mike Hoffman trade, the Panthers traded for a player whose off-ice controversies were at an all-time high, and Hoffman has easily been one of Florida’s better players this season.
Dale Tallon, whose job could be at stake if this season continues to progress lower and lower in the standings, needs to find a new #1 in net. Even if Luongo can bounce back, Luongo is still 39, and only getting older.
Now, without further ado, here are three out-of-place goaltenders who the Panthers should look at potentially acquiring. I break down how they can do it:
Option #1: Casey DeSmith, Pittsburgh Penguins
To those who haven’t followed much of the NHL this season outside of the Panthers, there’s a reason Casey DeSmith is wearing the #1 in black and gold.
With usual starter Matt Murray struggling for form in the early weeks of the season, winding up going on IR with a lower-body injury, and usual backup Tristan Jarry underperforming again, the time came for DeSmith to emerge as a consistent starter.
This is a common theme for those in the Penguins organization, “next man up” has inspired a lot of players in the organization, from Matt Murray to Brian Dumoulin to Jake Guentzel. DeSmith has proven himself to coach Mike Sullivan and the rest of the organization.
DeSmith has started 20 of 35 Penguins games this year, which is 9 more than all of last season. He’s been, to put it lightly, very impressive, averaging 34.6 saves a game, a .926% save percentage, and a 2.42 goals allowed average.
He’s won 11 games for the Pens this season but saying that isn’t even scratching the surface. He’s had some incredible individual performances, including a 39-save shutout against the Arizona Coyotes in his first start in almost a month and a 48-save win over the Boston Bruins.
His best performance came in his most recent game, 40 saves in a 2-1 win at home against the Minnesota Wild.
DeSmith made multiple brilliant saves to help the Penguins rally from going down early. He showed his movement in the crease to deny the Wild on a 3-on-1 opportunity that was mis-hit by Jason Zucker but still denied from DeSmith after making an initial save off a giveaway.
His best save came in the second period while shorthanded to deny Wild captain Mikko Koivu:
This save is all-star quality. The first save is good enough, denying a sheer blast from the left side, but then to deny Koivu’s shot from a high-scoring position, after recovering from the first shot, shows DeSmith’s effort to make save after save after save.
Murray’s comeback will continue to complicate DeSmith’s play time, with Murray winning 2 of 3 starts back.
DeSmith has also been dealing with domestic violence allegations, which could be something that the Penguins may want to get off their table.
Despite all this, the Penguins are a smart organization, they know they have a solid backup goalie, and may not wish to move him.
The Penguins are a clear playoff contender, 3rd in the Metropolitan division, and need this kind of talent on Murray’s off-nights, but no Penguins player is untouchable. Here is a reasonable trade for both sides:
This trade may not look good for either side, but it’s mostly bent on needs. Mark Pysyk is a good defenseman on his day and has proven that in Panthers’ red, but, with both Jacob MacDonald and Bogdan Kiselevich looking good at the NHL level, whether Pysyk is a necessity anymore falls into question.
The Penguins need as much experience at the back as they can. While rookies Juuso Riikola and Marcus Pettersson have performed admirably with injuries to regulars Jamie Oleksiak and Justin Schultz, come playoff time, Pysyk would be a great fit as a disciplined, bottom-four pairing defenseman.
The Panthers get DeSmith alongside Riley Sheahan, a forward who hasn’t quite lived up to expectations this year and would even out the cap gained by Pittsburgh in acquiring Pysyk.
Florida also throw in a 3rd round pick for next year’s draft as a sweetener, as the Cats don’t have their 2nd or 3rd round picks this year.
Option #2: Cam Talbot, Edmonton Oilers
Cam Talbot’s production since the Edmonton Oilers were knocked out of a playoff spot in the conference semifinals back in 2017 has grounded to mediocre.
He’s always had his nights in an Oilers uniform, but recently, the 31-year-old has just seemed flatter than what he had been last season.
That 2016-17 season was impressive, but starting 73 out of 82 games can really drain a goalie physically.
The effects showed the next season, with his GAA going from 2.39 to 3.02, his save percentage dropping, and only recording one shutout after recording seven in the season prior.
The coaching change also hasn’t helped matters, with Ken Hitchcock favoring a new number 1 between the pipes.
The return of Mikko Koskinen, a former 2nd round draft pick, has sparked the Oilers into a playoff push. Koskinen has been the goalie Edmonton needed, a hulking 6’7″ frame, 2.18 GAA, and 11-4-1 in his games this season.
Talbot has transformed into the odd-man out. Since Hitchcock was appointed on November 20th, Talbot has played just five games.
Finally, this is a stressful year for Talbot. This is Talbot’s contract year, and after he will turn 32 this summer, so this could very well be his last chance at earning a solid paycheck.
If Koskinen proves he isn’t fool’s gold, Edmonton could feel safer to accept an offer for Talbot’s ticket out.
If the Panthers step up their play with a goalie like Talbot in net, there could be a lot of attention coming his way to discuss a new deal. Here is what the Panthers could give up for Talbot:
This one hurts to say, but Frank Vatrano probably doesn’t fall into the Panthers’ future plans. It’s no disrespect to him, but with Henrik Borgström’s great emergence at the NHL level, and with Nick Bjugstad and Vincent Trocheck to return from injury, it’s just not really the place for him.
Edmonton could do with a winger who wants to put the puck in the net, they’ve struggled to create much from the flanks.
One of Ian McCoshen or Jacob Macdonald is also thrown into this deal, with the Panthers getting Florida native Logan Day in return. Alexander Petrovic is also thrown into the deal for cap purposes.
Option #3: Jake Allen, St. Louis Blues
There’s not a lot of teams that have struggled more than St. Louis this season, 30 points through 3 months, with a lot of talent on this team susceptible to a trade if they decide to blow it all up.
Jake Allen is going to be one of many requesting a flight out at the deadline, if not sooner. Allen has spent 7 seasons playing for the Blues and has gradually regressed more and more since his NHL debut.
His trade value could be lower than previously imagined, having his worst season in the NHL with a 3.17 GAA and an .898% save percentage.
Allen, surprisingly, has been awful at QuickenLoans Arena, giving up almost four goals a game across fifteen starts.
He’s begun to rebound relatively well after being labeled as one of the worst goalies in the NHL across October, where he gave up 3.99 goals per game on an .874% percentage.
Allen has yet again fallen scapegoat in St. Louis, a lot of the team have been good in major stat categories, 2nd in face-offs, 8th in penalty kill, and 20th in shots allowed, but the lack of goal support (26th in goals for) has really kept the pressure on Allen.
He’s still made some great saves, like this one against Winnipeg. He’s given up his fair share of goals off giveaways, but here, he shows great reaction time to instantly snap into position and make a crucial save in the opening frame of the game, despite being well out of position.
If the Blues do decide to go younger, Jake Allen could be one of many players that would help them acquire said youth.
Despite extreme caution for inconsistency, if you get him on his good nights as he had from 2013-2015, he can become an all-star level talent again.
Allen is also still 28, which means he still has a good amount of time left in the NHL at the top-level, barring any injuries.
Finally, his contract was also unevenly portioned, with Allen set to earn $5.2 million next season, the most out of his 4 year/$17.4 million extension that he signed back in 2015.
The Blues may look to offload that money if they feel they can go after another goalie for cheap. He’s still a serviceable player, however, so the Cats may need to offer a little more than expected for his numbers.
As said, the Blues may want to get a little younger. James Reimer comes in as a possible bridge goalie to whoever St. Louis’ long-term replacement is, with Denis Malgin, 21 years of age, and Jayce Hawryluk, 23 on January 1st, also being shipped off to the Gateway City. Zach Sanford joins the deal for cap considerations.
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