Is There Any More Market For Goaltending At The Trade Deadline?

Mar 1, 2014; Uniondale, NY, USA; New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur (30) makes a save against the New York Islanders during the second period of a game at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

It is always tough to get value for you goaltenders, but that is even more difficult to do at the trade deadline.  With the Ryan Miller/Jaroslav Halak trade on Friday, two key netminders have been moved, but there are many more potentially in play.

First up, in a trade I would have to see to believe, it is rumored that Martin Brodeur could be on the move from the New Jersey Devils.  Sure, Brodeur probably doesn’t like riding the bench, but lets face it, at this point in his career he is not going to be the answer for a team that would need a goalie to push them over the edge in a Stanley Cup chase. Maybe a guy who could go to a team like Pittsburgh where he could tutor the mentally shaky Marc-Andre Fleury to keep him focused in a situation where he has lost some of it over the past two springs. Brodeur hasn’t always struck me as a team player, and might not be the right fit for that situation.  In my opinion, he should ride out the season with the Devils and end his storied career with the team it started with.

Now, cue the Roberto Luongo rumors.  Eddie Lack will be getting his third straight start in the Heritage Classic, and Luongo is not happy about it. The Luongo rumors will be circulating for the next 3 days now, and it will be like deja vu.  His contract is still almost untradeable, because the teams that need him to push them over the top don’t have the cap space, and the teams that have cap space going forward don’t have the cash to tie up in a goalie or the need.  Luongo is still an elite goalie and he feels disresepected once again.

Cam Ward appears to be available with the inevitable emergence of Anton Khudobin in Carolina, although Ward is the only one of the three goalies who is signed past this year.  Halak could be flipped again from the Sabres before the trade deadline, and Tim Thomas could be moved from Florida.

So there are a  lot of names out there, and not so many suitors.  Most of the players named above, the exception being Ward, are UFAs this summer and would be potential rentals.  There won’t be much return with so many names and not enough potential landing spaces.  Goaltending will be a buyer’s market over the next 3 days, and you won’t likely see too many more change addresses