Faceoff Factor

The Top 15 (or so) Goaltenders Available July 1

Michael Farkas | National Hockey League

Jun 30, 01:28 AM | Hype this story!

T-minus one week until one of the most hectic times on the NHL calendar: the free agency period. Once again, there’s a rich crop of fantastic forwards, delectable defensemen and great goaltenders available to all 30 National Hockey League teams. Forced alliteration aside, Faceoff Factor will take a peek at some of the league’s most coveted free agents.
Last and certainly least (in this offseason), goaltenders.

Cristobal Huet
Former team: Washington Capitals
07-08 cap hit: $2,875,000
07-08 stats: 52 GP, 32-14-6, 2.32 GAA, .920 save pct., 4 SO

Cristobal Huet still remains one of the league’s most underrated netminders. Time and again he proves his worth, and this time it was going 11-2 down the stretch with Washington to earn them a playoff berth. Huet can get streaky here and there, but he is a very sound goaltender. He is strong positionally and has good reflexes. Sometimes it seems as if his lateral mobility doesn’t come as naturally as it should to him and he gets caught trying to just use his glove on quick, agile forwards cutting through the crease.

What he wants: A clear-cut number one role.

What can you expect: A top 10 or 12 NHL starting goaltender at $3.7 to $5.2 million per year.

Who’s interested: Washington and maybe Los Angeles on a one year deal, but that seems unlikely.

Jose Theodore
Former team: Colorado Avalanche
07-08 cap hit: $5,333,333
07-08 stats: 53 GP, 28-21-3, 2.44 GAA, .910 save pct., 3 SO

Theodore really re-established himself in the NHL this season. After a horrid few years in there with Montreal and Colorado, Theodore revamped his entire goaltending arsenal. He went back to basics and essentially “started over.” It worked, he took back his number one job and look quite good doing it. Theodore has looked like a different goalie, much different from the one that used to drop down too early and allow all kinds of goals in the upper portion of the net.

What he wants: A starting job.

What can you expect: A starting goaltender that will more than suffice on a team with average or better defense at $3.25 to $4.75 million per year.

Who’s interested: Colorado or Ottawa.

Olaf Kolzig
Former team: Washington Capitals
07-08 cap hit: $5,450,000
07-08 stats: 54 GP, 25-21-6, 2.91 GAA, .892 save pct., 1 SO

After the top two, that’s pretty much it for the goaltending market. Kolzig, of course, was a long-time starter for Washington and had his reign in the nation’s capitol ended rather abruptly when the Caps acquired Huet at the deadline. Kolzig didn’t do himself any favors with the season he had in 07-08 either. At 38 years old, there might not be much left in the tank.

What he wants: At least a 1B job, but would probably accept a backup role.

What can you expect: A goalie that’s been there and done that and can bestow his experience upon a younger goalie. You could probably get a good 20 or 25 games out of Ollie the Goalie at around $1 to $2.25 million.

Who’s interested: With the goalie market as flooded and full as it is, I’m not really sure where he fits. Perhaps Ottawa, or with a cheaper salary, Vancouver.

Alex Auld
Former team: Boston Bruins
07-08 cap hit: $600,000
07-08 stats: 32 GP, 12-13-5, 2.68 GAA. .907 save pct., 3 SO

Yeah, this did get out of hand in a hurry. Alex Auld is on the list only because Boston’s defense makes their goalies look so good. Auld, who strolled in fresh from the sewer after being waived and demoted by Phoenix (that tells you something), came into Boston’s system and went 4-1 with a 1.40 GAA, .957 save pct. and a shutout. In games started for Boston, Auld has a 2.16 GAA and .929 save pct. which are superior numbers to Boston’s other goalie “paper All-Star” Tim Thomas. Claude Julien’s system brought out the best in this 6’4” 200-pound goaltender.

What he wants: A one-way contract.

What can you expect: A big backup goaltender that, despite his numbers last year, probably shouldn’t be playing more than 20 games unless you can shelter him.

Who’s interested: Maybe Vancouver?

Curtis Joseph
Former team: Calgary Flames
07-08 cap hit: $1,673,148 (non-prorated version)
07-08 stats: 9 GP, 3-2-0, 2.55 GAA, .906 save pct.

Curtis Joseph, at 41, brings a lot of experience to the table. He still shows he’s at least somewhat capable of being an NHL netminder. He shows the poise and reflexes necessary to compete at this level still. He would still probably be best placed in a situation where he doesn’t have to log more than 15 or 20 games, especially if the team is defense-less.

What he wants: Not to have to retire yet.

What can you expect: A veteran goaltender that’s capable of 15 good games.

Who’s interested: Toronto.

Honorable mention:

Ty Conklin (Pittsburgh) – When Marc-Andre Fleury went down, Ty Conklin stepped up. Conklin had a great 14-game run, but the law of averages caught up with him in the next 14 or so games. Conklin has been up and down throughout his NHL career and that’s a good part of the reason as to why he’ll never be a starter in this league. Solid backup or organizational depth is the name of the game for Conklin.

Patrick Lalime (Chicago) – Lalime falls into that “inconsistent” category as well unfortunately. Lalime has (or had) the talent to be a number one in the NHL, but a lot of his problems are in the mental aspect of his game. He rebounded a bit to have a respectable season for the Blackhawks in 2007-08, proving that he’s still at least somewhat NHL-caliber.

I just have to cut this off right here. Lalime was a stretch, there is just no one left in the goalie market that is worth any more mention than “other notables.” It’s a down year for goaltenders in the UFA market.

Other notables that may or may not have NHL jobs next year: Ray Emery, Curtis Sanford, Jocelyn Thibault, David LeNeveu, Johan Holmqvist, Stephen Valiquette, Jean-Sebastien Aubin and Yann Danis.

I’ll apologize for cutting it short, but does anyone really want to read about a toss-up between Johan Holmqvist and Stephen Valiquette? I’d wager that 5 of those latter 8 don’t play in the NHL next season.

Next up: Get ready for July 1st!