Dave Pagnotta of the Fourth Period joined Steve Kouleas and Carter Hutton on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio and when asked about Juuse Saros in Nashville and the rest of the goalie market, Pagnotta stated this summer will be an interesting one when it comes to goalies.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
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Carter Hutton: “But you know, I got to circle back just because I’m greedy and I got you and I’m a goalie, you know, Juuse Saros obviously on the trading block early in the year. Lots of talk about it. Then he goes on to just have a run and put this team together. You know, what is the plan with him this summer? You know, there’s always ties to Toronto and different teams, you know, what do they do with him, with Askarov coming in the minors?”
Dave Pagnotta: “They really liked him. They really like this kid. And if they didn’t go on such a heater in a run. I mean, that was why Saros was available. Was, they would potentially move him out, move Askarov up and give him an opportunity to play out the season. Gain that NHL experience going into next year.
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And I think at that point, they would bring in a veteran back up to kind of assist him along the way. I think that could potentially play out this year. You know, Barry Trotz talked about having to have a conversation contract-wise and see what the numbers are. I think they know what the number is, or at least the ballpark. I think there was some discussions during the season. Loose ones, but at least having an understanding of what the number is.
The comparable that I kept getting talking to a number of people was the Ilya Sorokin deal, eight years eight and a quarter or $8 million something in that range, is it seems to be what Saros is looking for. And with one year left on his contract, like everyone else in the final year entering the final year, you can’t sign until July one. But I think they’ve got a good idea as to what the ballpark is going to be in order to keep him around.
And my sense was during the season, that they didn’t have much of an appetite to have that type of contract, because of Askarov coming up. I can’t imagine that’s changed. And I do expect him to be part of the discussion board from a trade perspective.
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You’ve got Saros, you’ve got Ullmark. You’ve got Markstrom. You have Merzlikins. You have Andersen, Korpisalo’s name out there as well. I’m missing a couple of guys, Gibson, and I know there’s at least one more Gustavsson, excuse me, all of these guys in play, and that’s why I think from going back to the first topic.
I definitely think the goalie carousel will be a very interesting one. And really with Cam Talbot and Ilya Samsonov, you could argue are the two starters from a UFA perspective, you’ve got these other guys from a trade block perspective it’s going to be very very interesting to see how all the dominoes kind of fall and all the pieces come into place once it’s all said and done.”