Quote:
Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction
It will be such a huge failure if the management of this team cannot use this leverage to acquire a goalie for cheap.
Is there a trade freeze once teams release their protected list? Or can the Flames wait and see who is left unprotected to see who they should target?
|
It's not that simple.
The problem is that every team has to leave a qualifying goalie unprotected. If a team doesn't have a goalie that they can leave unprotected, they'll have to acquire one before the expansion draft. Also, if a team trades a goalie before the expansion draft, they'll lose a different player to Vegas instead.
Those factors have to be taken into account too.
Take Pittsburgh, for example. Let's assume that Fleury has agreed to waive his NMC to be exposed in the expansion draft.
If they leave him unprotected and Vegas takes him, they lose Fleury for nothing, but it also costs them nothing else.
If they trade Fleury before the expansion draft, they have to acquire a different goalie to expose. They could do it by trading for another team's excess goalie or a qualified AHL goalie. They may not want to do that because they already have a couple of goalies in the AHL who they're likely looking to use next season (like the Flames, both their AHL goalies from this season are exempt from the expansion draft due to a lack of pro experience).
As it stands, there are only 11 teams that currently have more than one goalie that meets the exposure requirements. It likely wouldn't cost much to get a goalie to expose, but because teams would know the Pens need to get one, it might bump the price a bit. I could see it costing them a fifth round pick (they have both their own and Ottawa's this year, but they'll both be late in the round).
Also, if they trade Fleury before the expansion draft, they'd also lose a different player to Vegas. For the Pens, that's probably Brian Dumoulin (heck, if I were McPhee, I'd consider taking Dumoulin over Fleury anyway).
If you're the Flames, that means the price for acquiring Fleury before the expansion draft has to be worth more to the Pens than a fifth round pick and Brian Dumoulin. Plus, any player(s) the Flames send to Pittsburgh in the deal have to either be exempt from the expansion draft, or someone the Pens are willing to protect ahead of one of their other players. It could create a bit of a game of musical chairs as acquiring one player bumps another player off the protected list.
All of that is true for any team who might lose a good backup to Vegas. If they trade that goalie, the return has to be better than the player they're likely to lose in the expansion draft if they trade the goalie. As such, the idea that the Flames can acquire a new starter cheaply before the expansion draft probably isn't realistic.
In fact, waiting to make a deal with Vegas for a goalie they pick in the expansion draft might make more sense for the Flames.