Sportsnet: Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas on 32 Thoughts: The Podcast – The Rise of David Carle on the Ottawa Senators and goaltending. With Linus Ullmark is still out week-to-week and do the Senators look to find a stopgap goaltender or do they hold pat? What options are out there.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Friedman: “See, the thing too, that’s a challenge about this is that there’s, you know, you’re looking you’re saying, ‘Okay, if I need another goalie, where am I going to get them from?’ Okay, and now we’ve already had a couple of goalie trades, so you’re wondering how many goalies are even available now?
The second thing you’re looking at is how many teams are still in the race that are not going to want to help you.
And the third thing you’re looking at is, a lot of these teams that are in the playoffs right now or around the playoffs right now, they’re saying we need three guys. And that’s the problem.
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You know people, you know people look at like, you know, someone was saying to me, what about Cayden Primeau? And you know, Cayden Primeau was, was available on waivers last week, and you know, he was playing very poorly, and hopefully he can find his game back again in Laval. But all of a sudden, Montreal is in this too. And I have no idea if this is going to last, but Montreal is probably sitting there and saying, ‘you know, hey, we might need this guy.’ It’s better for us if we sort it out, as opposed to moving them, unless they got another plan here. But everybody needs three goalies.
So, you know, you look and you see who’s out there. Like, do you think John, for what Anaheim has been asking for John Gibson, like, it’s been a lot. Is Ottawa paying that price? I don’t think so.”
Bukauskas: “No, I don’t think so either.”
Friedman: “And the other thing too is you’ve already got Ullmark, and he’s in and out of injury. The biggest concern about Gibson, who won his 200th career game on Sunday night, is not his ability, it’s the health. So your whole thing that you’re trying to do right now is stabilize your net. Are you going to go get someone else who can’t stay healthy?”
Bukauskas: “Right, but the thing about Gibson too, I mean, for how many years now in Anaheim has he constantly just been caved in with the amount of zone time and shots that he faces on a nightly basis. And I wonder, if you put him in a situation…”
Friedman: “He is dying for a chance to prove that.”
Bukauskas: “Right.”
Friedman: “He is dying for that opportunity.”
Bukauskas: “Dramatically reduce the likelihood of, of injury when you’re in a bit of a different scenario, that way too.
If you’re Ottawa, though, one thing I wonder about Elliotte, like you got yourself back into the mix here, like you’re firmly in the race.”
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Friedman: “Yes.”
Bukauskas: “Giving yourselves a chance here. So are you okay, accepting of the fact of another year of ‘Well, we were right there, but injuries did us in.'”
Friedman: “No, no, no.”
Bukauskas: “How far are you willing to push? How far are you willing to push?”
Friedman: “You have to look. You have to look. You have to try. But you know, it’s like, everybody can see, everybody else can see what you’re up to., right? Like, to me it comes down to what price. Are you willing to pay, and who do you really think can help you?
Are you taking a shot at Dan Vladar? Like that was one of the guys that jumped into my head. But Calgary is in the race.”
Bukauskas: “Yes, they are.”
Friedman: “That was one of the guys who jumped into my head. You know, Primeau, obvious Gibson, obvious. Vladar was a guy I looked at. You know, they’ve got (Dustin) Wolf. They’ve got (Devin) Cooley, but they’re in the race. You know, San Jose, they’ve got (Yaroslav) Askarov playing more now. They’ve got (Alexandar) Georgiev and (Vitek) Vanecek is hurt. Does anything there appeal to you?”
Bukauskas: “Right. Because that’s the other thing, you got to believe they can come in and do a job for you.”
Friedman: “Yes, yes. You know, someone mentioned to me Marezk. He’s got another year at four-something million.”
Bukauskas: “Yes, and then your extension, with Ullmarks kicking in.”
Friedman: “Yes. All of a sudden, you got $12 million in goal. So it’s not, but it’s not that easy. But the one thing, and I know you’re an Ottawa guy, I agree with you on this completely, you
you need to reward your guys.”
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Bukauskas: “Yep.”
Friedman: “It’s tough challenge. Tough spot for a GM to be.”
Bukauskas: “You bet.”
Friedman: “Unless you think you can get through it and you, and you know, you know Ullmarks health better than anyone. Your doctors are the ones seeing him. You know what the situation is. Do you think you can get by with (Anton) Forsberg, (Leevi) Marilainen for a few weeks? To me, that’s always the most optimum thing, solve your problem internally.”
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