Upgrades far from guaranteed in goalie trade market

We’re approaching the one-year anniversary of a couple swaps Edmonton Oilers fans might consider a missed opportunity.

Unfortunately for the Oilers, those moves also represent a bit of an anomaly when it comes impactful in-season goalie trades.

It was Nov. 30, 2024, when the Colorado Avalanche moved goalie Justus Annunen to the Nashville Predators for Scott Wedgewood. Nine days later, the Avalanche were in the middle of another goalie move, sending — among other parts — masked man Alexandar Georgiev to San Jose for puckstopper Mackenzie Blackwood.

Colorado’s team save percentage on the day it dealt for Wedgewood was .856, dead last in the NHL through over a quarter of the 2024-25 season. Since Dec. 3, 2024, — the day Wedgewood played his first game for the Avs — the club has a .909 team save percentage, a number that represents the third-best figure in the NHL over a stretch of 79 games for the club.

The Oilers, for what it’s worth, are tied for 22nd at .889.

Goaltending, of course, has been a major subplot in Edmonton for some time now. The team’s inability to get over the Florida Panther-shaped hump — Saturday night’s win notwithstanding — often leads to a conversation about whether Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard, bless their hearts, can get this team where it wants to go.

As it happens, the Oilers aren’t the only Canadian NHL team to experience some goaltending woes of late. 

The Montreal Canadiens — who surely felt pretty good about their tandem of Samuel Montembeault and Jakob Dobes coming into the season — have seen both guys hit the skids in November. Since this month began, the Canadiens have a league-worst .846 save percentage. Edmonton sits 29th at .861. 

Crease concerns have been top-of-mind longer in Northern Alberta than Quebec and any Edmonton supporter who’s had Part 1 of the goalie conversation — “I don’t think our guys are good enough” — knows full well that Part 2 — “So, uh, who can we get?” — isn’t going to make you feel much better.

Even in the off-season, when teams make most of their moves, the goalie market is grim. And once the puck drops on a new season, those options don’t really improve.

That’s what makes Colorado’s moves at this time last year so impressive — and anomalous. 

While some in-season goalie trades since the start of 2021-22 improved a squad’s situation, the wins tend to be modest. Let’s look at a few trades in that timeframe by teams in a somewhat similar situation to Edmonton and Montreal (clubs that are playoff bound — or hope to be — that are trying to improve their crease).

As the table above shows, some of the moves made for goalies did pay off — at least in the regular season.

Wedgewood did not start a playoff game for either Dallas in 2022 or Colorado in 2025 and Quick didn’t play a minute for Vegas during its 2023 run to the Cup. As for Allen and Kahkonen, their arrival in Jersey wasn’t even enough to get the Devils into the post-season at all.

The Wild lost in the 2022 first round and Fleury posted a .906 save percentage in five games, while Korpisalo had an .892 save percentage during a six-game, first-round loss to Edmonton in ’23.

That leaves Blackwood, who also had an .892 save percentage last spring — in what marked his first-ever NHL post-season action — as Colorado lost to Dallas.

Obviously Colorado is over the moon with how its goalie trades from a year ago worked out, but completely remaking your crease on the fly and finding a new, solid tandem is, to put it lightly, the exception to the rule. 

Still, Edmonton could not be in more of a win-now mode and must exhaust every avenue to help the squad. As for the Habs, they’re watching a good start slip away thanks to shoddy netminding. If Dobes — who was solid on Saturday in a win over the Toronto Maple Leafs — and Montembeault show any more signs of slipping, outside help may be required. 

What’s even be possible for Edmonton, Montreal or any other club looking to level up in goal?

Let’s examine a few options.

Jordan Binnington, St. Louis

St. Louis’s tough start to the season has Jordan Binnington’s name in the rumour mill again, just as it was last winter when the Blues were struggling. Binnington came up huge for Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off final and has the 2019 Cup on his resume, but he’s got some blood on his pads when it comes to the Blues’ bad record this season.

Among goalies with at least seven games played this season, Binnington ranks 49th of 51 goalies in terms of Moneypuck’s goals save above expected (minus-6) and his .880 save percentage is upsetting. While this season has been particularly bad, it’s not as though he’s been a Vezina challenger in the past couple years. Since the start of the 2022-23 campaign, Binnington’s save percentage clocks in at .901. That’s not terrible, but 34 goalies who’ve played at least 75 games in that stretch have a better mark.

Juuse Saros, Nashville Predators

If you’re shopping for a goalie in the Central Division, the dream scenario might be scraping Juuse Saros out of Nashville. But while the lowly Preds are sure to sell some pieces, Saros seems unlikely to move. If he ever does, the 30-year-old Finn will be calling his own shot thanks to a no-move clause.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Buffalo Sabres

The big Finn has trade protection that kicks in on July 1. The Sabres — like 15 other teams in the Eastern Conference — remain the playoff hunt and helped their cause with a couple big home wins on the weekend, both started by UPL.

Still, if the Sabres don’t have a realistic shot at the post-season come late January, they could see what Luukkonen might fetch. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman — during the height of the Habs’ goalie drama last week — even drew a line between Luukkonen and Montreal.

Jonathan Quick, New York Rangers

Is it possible the Rangers — should they fall out of playoff contention — would part with pending-UFA Jonathan Quick? The two-time Cup champion with Los Angeles is having a strong final chapter as Igor Shesterkin’s backup and you could hope to catch lighting in a bottle for two months with a guy who turns 40 in January. One thing is for sure: no moment would be too big for the 2012 Conn Smythe Trophy winner. 

Joseph Woll, Toronto Maple Leafs

The reality is the Leafs woke up Monday morning sitting dead last in the Eastern Conference. There’s been plenty of speculation about the kind of trade Toronto can make to shake things up, but what about a move that could help replenish some futures?

Woll has obviously had trouble staying healthy, but he sports a .910 save percentage in exactly 82 career games. You could see a team bringing him in to be part of a tandem somewhere else and hoping his highs are loftier than their current guy’s. Woll is in Year 1 of a three-year contract that does not offer trade protection right now. With Anthony Stolarz inked for four years after this one and the Buds clearly in some kind of transitional position, maybe Toronto would move Woll for the right return. 

Given how limited in-season goalie options tend to be for buyers, the right return just might be out there for the few sellers. 

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