TSN: Martin Biron on the Jay Onrait show talking about the goalie market this offseason. If you’re looking for goaltender, the trade market may be the route to go over free agency.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Jay Onrait: “Marty, I want to talk about goaltending, and the first goaltender on our TSN top 50 free agents list is Jake Allen at number 11. There are only three goalies total in the top 50. So if you’re a GM, you’re looking to shore up your goaltending situation, is it free agency you go to or there other, other avenues you think might be better to improve your goaltending situation?
Biron: “It’s got to be trade, right? You look at Jake Allen. He’s not going to fix your goalie or your crease issues if you need a number one. He may be a 1B. He may be coming in a tandem, but he’s not the number one in the tandem. He’s the support, right? Like in New Jersey, he did great behind Jacob Markstrom, and I do feel that there’s a desire to keep Markstrom and Allen in New Jersey.
So that would be even worse when it comes to the goalie market. You have (Dan) Vladar, you have Alex Lyon, you have Vitek Vanecek, he’s the backup in Florida. I think they are kind of backup or tandem options.
You look at trades though. You could go after (John) Gibson in Anaheim. You could go after (Elvis) Merzlikin’s in Columbus. You’ve got Detroit, that has (Petr) Mrazek and (Cam) Talbot.
You could go after, maybe do what the Leafs did, you know, look at a backup goaltender that’s having a lot of success. Joe Hofer in St. Louis could be that guy. So there’s better options in the trade market than there is in the free agent market.
And it’s one of those summers where if you’re a piece, like if you’re the Toronto Maple Leafs, and you have (Anthony) Stolarz and Joseph Woll, do you kind of call around to see what you would be able to get in return for either one of them? Because maybe the value is going to be great. Maybe you can make a move. I think the trade market is where it at with the goaltenders this summer. You’re not going to fix your crease by going the free agent route.
I think it’s definitely you got to go and pay, you know, the value of a trade to make sure that that happens.”
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