Goaltender Options for the Flyers - Part 1

With both Marty Biron and Antero Nittymaki scheduled to become free agents, the Flyers are left without an NHL caliber goaltender on their roster. Clearly, the Flyers plan to acquire a goalie in some manner this offseason.  This past March the Flyers signed 27 year old Swedish goaltender Johan Backlund. It was only a one year deal, and I don’t believe the Flyers ever considered that he could possibly be their starter next season. At best Backlund could be a relatively cheap backup option. There are quite a few options for the Flyers, however there is no clear cut #1 option. Part 1 of this entry covers the Unrestricted Free Agent Goaltender options.

Some of the more realistic options, as well as the biggest Unrestricted free agent names include Nikolai Khabibulin, Manny Fernandez, Martin Gerber, Martin Biron, Dwayne Roloson, and Craig Anderson. So let’s take a look into these unrestricted free agent possibilities. I’ll post the goals against average and save percentage for each goaltender. Personally, I put far more weight into save percentage than I do goals against average. The GAA is more of a product of the team. If a team plays fantastic defense, they are just going to allow fewer goals, and therefore an inferior goalie could still have a respectable GAA. Save percentage however, gives you a more realistic representation of skill because it cannot be as heavily influenced by the team.

Martin Biron

2.76 GAA .915 SV%

We all know what Biron brings to the Flyers. He’s certainly an adequate goalie. At times he struggles but he is capable of winning games and playoff series by himself; see the Montreal series last season. However, after making $3.5 million this past year, I imagine he will be looking for a raise. I’m not the biggest Biron fan, but he is acceptable. I would NOT want to pay him any more than he had been making with the Flyers, unless they fail in acquiring another goaltender. In other words, I would look for an upgrade, and ideally a cheaper upgrade. Now, that may seem unrealistic, how often can you get an upgrade while paying less? The only way the Flyers can really do so, is to acquire a young, slightly unproven goaltender, and take a chance on him.

Nikolai Khabibulin

2.33 GAA .919 SV%

Khabibulin rebounded after a couple of subpar years with Chicago after they went out and signed Cristobal Huet. Khabibulin has been widely considered one of the better goaltenders in the game, and after leading the Tampa Bay Lightning to a Stanley Cup, he received a massive contract. He made $6.75 million this past season. After his great regular season, and stellar play in these playoffs (taking Chicago to the Conference Finals) he is really the prize of the Unrestricted Free Agent Goalie crop, and will command top dollar. If the Flyers can manage to shed/redistribute some of their salary, I would absolutely love to have Khabibulin, as long as we can get the 36 year old on a short contract. Because he is over 35, if we were to sign him, his contract would count against the cap regardless of injury or retirement. So if we could get him at a reasonable number for 1-2 years, I’d do it. Ideally, we could also acquire a younger prospect to groom behind him in this instance, either via trade or draft pick.

Manny Fernandez

2.59 GAA .910 SV%

I am NOT a Manny Fernandez fan, and I really hope the Flyers don’t pursue him. He’s 34 years old and made an incredible $4.75 million this past season. He put up a better GAA than Biron, but he was on a far superior Boston team. His save percentage was worse however. The only time in his career Fernandez really put up good numbers was with the Minnesota Wild who are the epitome of a defensive team. So in conclusion…he’s old, will probably be relatively expensive, and I tend to believe he just isn’t that good.

Martin Gerber

3.03 GAA .902 SV%

This guy just isn’t a starting goaltender. He turned one good year with Carolina into a $3.7 million dollar contract. He’s 34 years old as well. He’s a really good backup, but just not really a starting option for a contending Flyers team.

Dwayne Roloson

2.77 GAA .915 SV%

I’m not much of a fan of Roloson as well. For starters, he is 39 years old and coming off of a contract where he made $3 million. I tend to think of Roloson and Fernandez as identical players…probably because they split time in Minnesota at one point, and they were both quite good. I think he is certainly better than Fernandez, but he’s never been even close to an elite goaltender and again, he’s 39 years old. There are better short term options than Dwayne Roloson.

Craig Anderson

2.71 GAA .924 SV%

I like Craig Anderson quite a bit. He is only 27 years old and coming off of a deal that paid him only 575k; so even a $2 million contract is a massive raise for him. He actually wasn’t very good in his early days in Chicago, but he’s been fantastic for Florida the past three years posting save percentages of .931, .935, and .924. Now to be entirely honest, it was a very small sample size with games of 5,17, and 31 games respectively. But, he forced the Panthers to play him over Vokoun at times this season with his stellar play. I wouldn’t mind the Flyers bringing Craig Anderson in. However, I don’t want to rely solely on him. I would prefer to bring in Anderson with an additional young and unproven goaltender…and may the best man win. Anderson should come cheaper than most of the other UFA goaltenders, he is young, and has played great in recent years.

Part 2 of this series will include Restricted Free Agent options as well as possible acquisitions via trade.