The Hockey News: Brian Costello's blog: THN.com Blog: Very few NHL goaltender openings remain

THN.com Blog: Very few NHL goaltender openings remain

Martin Biron led the Flyers to the Eastern final two years ago, but couldn't get his team out of the first round last year. (Getty Images)

Brian Costello
2009-07-12 08:55:00

Did Martin Biron price himself out of a job in the NHL? Looks like it.

Eleven days into the free agent season and virtually every team has filled their starter and backup jobs for 2009-10.

So Biron may have to look for a job in Europe or the Kontinental League. Same with the other NHL proven UFA goalies Manny Fernandez, Manny Legace, Martin Gerber, Brent Johnson, Joey MacDonald, Curtis Sanford, Wade Dubielewicz and Kevin Weekes. That’s nine looking-for-work stoppers and a shrunken market.

Here are the new goaltender jobs this summer:

Boston has top prospect Tuukka Rask as backup. Chicago has Cristobal Huet as starter and top prospect Corey Crawford as backup. Colorado has Craig Anderson as starter and Peter Budaj is relegated to backup. Dallas has Alex Auld as backup. Detroit has prospect Jimmy Howard as backup. Edmonton has Nikolai Khabibulin as starter. Columbus has Mathieu Garon as backup. Florida has Scott Clemmensen as backup. New Jersey has prospect Jeff Frazee as backup. The Islanders have Dwayne Roloson as backup. Ottawa has Brian Elliott as backup. Philadelphia has Ray Emery as starter and Brian Boucher as backup. Phoenix has Jason LaBarbera as backup. Pittsburgh has John Curry as backup. San Jose has Thomas Greiss as backup. St. Louis has Ty Conklin as backup. Tampa Bay has Antero Niittymaki as backup. Toronto has Jonas Gustavsson as backup. Vancouver has Andrew Raycroft as backup.

From my point of view, here are the only openings remaining and a possible outcome. Good health is presumed at this point.

Calgary might want an experienced backup to spell an overworked Miikka Kiprusoff, but Curtis McElhinney makes the $500,000 minimum and the Flames are up against the cap. Maybe one of those nine UFAs gets desperate and settles for $700,000 or $800,000.

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The Los Angeles Kings maintain they’re not looking to sign a goalie and will open the season with Jonathan Quick and Erik Ersberg on the roster. Top prospect Jonathan Bernier will push for a job as well. A slow start may prompt the team to consider signing a veteran.

New Jersey is high on Frazee to eventually spell the aging Martin Brodeur, but 50 games in the American League would be better for the 22-year-old than 15 in the NHL. Opening for a backup here…if they’re not happy with the recently signed Yann Denis.

There’s another opening for a backup behind Marc-Andre Fleury in Pittsburgh, but Curry is 25 and it’s now or never time for him.

Evgeni Nabokov plays a lot in San Jose and the Sharks have a stable of goaltending prospects on the farm team. They’ll probably stick with 23-year-old Greiss as the 10-15 game backup.

So just a few backup openings for nine available NHL goalies. And Biron looks to be the only one who wouldn’t be satisfied with fewer than 40 games. Start looking east of the Atlantic, Marty.

Brian Costello is The Hockey News’s senior special editions editor and a regular contributor to THN.com. You can find his blog each weekend.

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COMMENTS (11)

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fieldmarshal Posted
(2009-07-15 13:55:52)

Philly doesn't have en elite goalie and hasn't for a long time, but I think it'd be safe to say that Emery wasn't thrilled about playing in Russia. That will likely be in the back of his mind when he suits up for the Flyers this season. I'd expect a much better attitude from Emery as this could be his last chance in the NHL. If he burns bridges here, or doesn't perform, back to Russia or elsewhere for him. Emery got the Sens to the SCF and that should be considered when comparing him to Biron. Emery will have a better team in front of him than Biron did, but Biron had his shot and asking what he wanted was simply insane. His play hurt his value and his salary expectations only made it worse.

brian_kemp Posted
(2009-07-15 11:08:57)

singollo, are you talking about Chris "could have won the last two Conn Smythe Trophies" Osgood? Chris "I've got my name on the Cup three times" Osgood? Chris "I'll have over 400 wins when I retire" Osgood? Chris "I got the piece of crap Islanders into the playoffs" Osgood? Other than that, I agree with everything you said. Personally, I'm not sure why anyone thinks Emery is a guaranteed upgrade over Biron, or even an even odds upgrade over him. The guy has won one more playoff round in a season than Biron. He's cheaper, yes, and Biron should shoot his agent, then himself, for asking what he did, but most likely, Philly's goalie woes aren't done yet.

md_fan Posted
(2009-07-15 09:16:11)

Marty had an inconsistent regular season in which he won 29 games with a 2.76 GAA. For the second year in a row, he raised his level of play in the postseason, giving up 2.56 GAA against the eventual champs. It's hard to pin the series loss on him, and maybe Homer didn't, but signing Emery, a statisically inferior goalie to Biron with character issues to boot, sure seems like the Flyers made a scapegoat of Biron. Marty's biggest problem might be his representation. While it's hard to know what Marty and his agent have asked for, they definitely appear to have misjudged the market. He may have to go somewhere and earn the starter job. Perhaps that will push him to play at a high level with greater consistency than he showed with Philadelphia.

singollo Posted
(2009-07-13 15:59:16)

As far as debating Biron's talent level, he is a classic "1A" level goalie. He is several cuts above back-up status, but he's just as clearly a few notches below a bona fide No. 1 netminder level. In short, Biron is the type of goalie who is always just good enough to get you beat. It's the mentality of, "Hey, this guy's not too bad, and we have a good team around him, if he's hot in the postseason we're set". But that theory never really pans out. If you look at the past two decades or so of Cup champions, virtually all (with the lone exception of Osgood, who had the mighty Wings in front of him) had a legitimate, no-questions-asked Number 1 goalie. Maybe they weren't always the top goalies in the league (i.e. Fleury, Mike Vernon, Richter) but they were clear-cut NHL starters. As far as salary goes, it's simple supply and demand. The demand for goalies each year is always the lowest of any position: there are 60 slots available: 30 starters and 30 back-ups. Each year, an additional cast of up-and-comers is available on the supply side of the equation, and for cheaper prices. In the salary cap era, why spend $4MM on a goalie who has never won it all, when you can spend just $800k on a goalie who has never won it all?

yourwrong Posted
(2009-07-13 15:25:41)

I agree with Field. Marty isn't good enough to be a number 1, but isnt bad enough to be considered a back-up. Its hard to find a home when you want to start and deserve better then back-up money... You could win with Marty, but you would need everything else going right for you.

fieldmarshal Posted
(2009-07-13 14:44:13)

Biron absolutely overestimated his value and worth. What he was asking is pretty bold. It was well-known before the trade deadline came months ago that the cap was expected to either go up very minimally, stay the same, or decrease. Biron isn't a BAD goalie during the regular season, but his playoff record leaves something to be desired. Even in the regular season, he has been very inconsistent and the Flyers have rebounded to the point where they threaten for the Atlantic Divison berth every season. This team is going to be making the playoffs for a long time to come, but if they can't get adequate goaltending from Biron, they're gonna look elsewhere, especially being pushed so hard against the cap. For a long time, the Flyers have neglected goaltending, but Holmgren made a smart move passing on Biron, who I believe was wildly overpricing himself. Emery has success in the playoffs, and if Stevens can keep him lucid, the Flyers have improved considerably in net and all-around.

baybye Posted
(2009-07-13 10:52:23)

well looks like the river has run dry in the goaltending department. will only take a drop in the cap and other positions will start feeling it. the teams just can not afford the salaries rising the way they are..you have to sell the farm to sign a top flight player.and with the economic downswing will the teams have the fans support as families have to make choices where to spend their diminishing dollars. overall ticket prices are too high and players are overpaid in the sense the market may not support their saleries for long...the future is not rosey and with he mess in Phoenix, when is an owner allowed to sell and recoup his losses. but i love my hockey:-)

spaga61 Posted
(2009-07-12 18:00:31)

To respond to the question about Marty pricing himself to high: it was reported in Philly media outlets that he was looking for a raise from last years salary ($3.5) to about $4.5M, along with 3+ years. Would you want your team paying $4.5M for a goalie who is occassionally brilliant, occassionally awful, had trouble securing the starter's role for two years in a row, is 32, and is woefully inconsistent? I think it's safe to say that Marty priced himself out of the league, for now, at least, or he will have to acknowledge that he is a maringal starter at best and should be paid at marginal starter level.

whatisthatsmell Posted
(2009-07-12 17:13:44)

I thought that was pretty bad journalism too. There is nothing in the whole article to explain the first sentence. lol. Maybe he started, got distracted, and came back later. Toronto taking a chance on this kid is a bit of a long shot, and Toskala is so bad I don't even want him around for backup. Maybe one of these guys will be wearing blue and white by the end of the year.

noahtavlin Posted
(2009-07-12 17:10:13)

is biron AS BAD as people say he is? i know he's not great, but 07-08 he had a decent season...he could have just had an off season last year. i mean obviously there really aren't any openings for him, but I would have considered him.

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