[Tkachukwagon]

Haynes on Vlader and Markstrom as trade bait:

https://twitter.com/user/status/1729532208518488531

Would you be surprised to learn that Dan Vladar’s career save percentage in the NHL is exactly the same as what Miikka Kiprusoff’s was when he was the same age?

Through age 26:
- Kiprusoff | 47 gm, 14-21-3, .897 SV%
- Vladar | 62 gm, 33-16-9, .897 SV%

I think many forget that Vladar, who doesn’t turn 27 until next August, is not yet a finished product. Far from it. Heck, Monday night was only his 13th career start at the Saddledome.

Has his play been inconsistent? You bet. Has he allowed some bad goals? Absolutely. Do we know, for sure, what he will be when he grows up? Not a chance.

Now I’m certainly not predicting that he has another 305 wins ahead of him as was this case for Kiprusoff at this same stage in his career. Expecting that would be foolish. Kipper turned into an all-time great. But it goes to show that you just don’t know with goalies, who reach their prime later than players at other positions.

Could Vladar’s NHL career also end up fizzling out like it has for another lanky Czech in former Flame David Rittich, who at age 31 and after a promising start, is playing in the AHL this season for the Los Angeles Kings’ affiliate in Ontario? That’s also a possibility.

The key thing to remember with Vladar is his situation is different than the situation for the likes of Elias Lindholm, Noah Hanifin, Chris Tanev, Nikita Zadorov, whose names are in trade rumours daily. Vladar is not on an expiring contract like those other pending UFAs. Vladar still has another season remaining after this one on the two-year, $4.4 million extension he signed back in October 2022.

The only pressure point to deal Vladar anytime soon is the presence of highly-touted prospect Dustin Wolf, but he is only 22 and he’s not a finished product either.

Vladar isn’t a UFA until the summer of 2025, which is actually just one season before Jacob Markstrom’s deal expires.

With Markstrom turning 34 in January, there’s obviously going to be an allure — especially if the team commits to rebuilding, or even just retooling — to eventually moving forward with a younger tandem of Vladar-Wolf, even if that means keeping all three until next summer and then reassessing the goalie market. At that point, perhaps there will be some wannabe contenders hunting for a veteran starter.

If Markstrom continues to play like he has to start this season, two years remaining at $6M AAV (or potentially less if Calgary chooses to retain a portion) isn’t exactly an albatross to get rid of.

The one thing we know for sure is with more stellar performances like Vladar turned in against Vegas, the temptation to be patient and stay the course for this season is going to grow bigger and understandably so. No doubt the San Jose Sharks would have done things differently in 2003 had they known the star that Kiprusoff was about to blossom into.