Examining the NHL’s goalie market: Will Bobrovsky contend again?

It’s not often we see a bona fide No. 1 netminder with oodles of big-game experience shopped around at the trade deadline.

This year, we have two. 

The Florida Panthers have gone from back-to-back champs to springtime sellers in less than a year, and pending UFA goalie Sergei Bobrovsky is suddenly their top trade chip. And then there’s Jordan Binnington, whose tenure with the Blues has seen him backstop St. Louis to the Stanley Cup, but also feels overdue for a fresh start amid regular-season struggles the last few years. 

Bobrovsky, a true rental, and Binnington (who still has one year of term on his deal) present two fascinating cases for trades at this year’s deadline. So do two other fellow netminders in the rumour mill in Toronto’s Anthony Stolarz and Minnesota’s Jesper Wallstedt. Questions about Stolarz’s health, and whether he can regain form as one half of a strong tandem, top the chatter around the 32-year-old, while the biggest question for Wallstedt is about whether the Wild would really consider parting with the young starter. (For the right price, maybe so.)

Together, these four goaltenders give us a pretty interesting look at the goalie market right now and the many questions it brings.

And then there’s the question of whether teams actually want to make a big move in net at this point in the season. Deadline deals involving netminders tend to lean towards insurance options, with contending clubs trading for No. 2 or No. 3 options, not a No. 1 for the stretch run.  

Looking back on the past few years tells us the biggest goalie trades tend to be saved for summertime. 

The summer of 2024, for example, featured several major moves in net: Calgary dealt Jacob Markstrom to the Devils for Kevin Bahl and a first-round pick on the same day the Capitals sent Darcy Kuemper to L.A. in a one-for-one for Pierre-Luc Dubois; Ten days later, Washington landed a new No. 1 with Logan Thompson from Vegas. In between, the Bruins and Senators swapped netminders as Linus Ullmark went to Canada's capital with Joonas Korpisalo taking his place in Boston's tandem; Later that summer, the San Jose Sharks traded for Yaroslav Askarov in a blockbuster August deal.

Despite the Ducks shopping John Gibson throughout 2024-25, they didn’t get a deal done until last summer when the Detroit Red Wings sent Petr Mrazek, a 2027 second-round pick and a 2026 fourth-rounder to Anaheim in exchange. The biggest goalie to move at last year’s deadline was Spencer Knight, who was part of the haul sent to Chicago in exchange for Seth Jones as the Blackhawks got a key piece to build around. Knight was indeed an impactful deadline acquisition, but not for a contender. 

When impactful goalie trades do happen in-season, recent years tell us teams tend to pull those off in the first half of a campaign to give the new guy as long a runway as possible. Take the Edmonton-Pittsburgh goalie swap this past December, for example, which saw Stuart Skinner sent to the Penguins for Tristan Jarry in a fresh-start-for-all transaction. One year earlier, the Avalanche also rebuilt their crease in-season with a pair of trades to land Scott Wedgewood and Mackenzie Blackwood — two deals that didn’t exactly shake up the market at the time but that now look like the work of a genius. 

So, what should we expect as the clock ticks towards Friday’s 3 p.m. ET deadline? We’re looking at four distinctly different potential trade candidates that showcase just how unpredictable this deadline is for goaltending.

The true rental: Sergei Bobrovsky, Florida Panthers

This time last year, it would’ve been absurd to consider Sergei Bobrvosky finishing his contract anywhere but Florida. The Panthers have made a habit of going on long playoff runs, thanks in large part to Bobrovsky, who has backstopped the squad to three straight Stanley Cup Finals and back-to-back championships. 

All that extra hockey seems to have caught up with the defending champs, though, which has this group in unfamiliar territory: at the bottom of the Atlantic Division, trailing 10 points off pace of a wild-card berth, and suddenly posting up as deadline sellers. Bobrovsky’s career-low numbers — a 3.13 goals-against average and .873 save percentage — have matched the woeful output of his team, and considering the injuries throughout this season it’s hard to know whether we’re seeing a natural decline for the 37-year-old starter or if this season has been a forgettable exception to the rule all around. 

So, what might this mean for the man in the blue paint? As GM Bill Zito’s biggest trade chip, dealing Bobrovsky would be an effective way to recoup a little draft capital after the shopping sprees of deadlines past. 

"I do think they'll look at the market for Bobrovsky," Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman said during an appearance on The FAN Hockey Show on Wednesday. "I've heard it's been a challenge to sign him, that the number he wants, or whatever he wants, is more than they're willing to do at this point in time. So, I do think they're going to look at it, absolutely."

The club just brought in veteran backup Louis Domingue, giving the team some short-term insurance in case of a major move. 

The high-upside bet: Jordan Binnington, St. Louis Blues

St. Louis Blues netminder Jordan Binnington has spent more time in the rumour mill than his peers on this list, so it’s no surprise to see plenty of speculation as we near the deadline. What began as murmurs and musings about whether a fresh start is ahead for both the Blues and their Stanley Cup-winning netminder as St. Louis stares down a roster overhaul now feels like a very real possibility he’s played his last game as a member of the Blues. 

He’s a No. 1 netminder with a proven track record of bringing his best in the biggest situations. He’s backstopped the Blues to the Stanley Cup, stood tall for Team Canada en route to gold at the 4 Nations Face-Off, and was excellent in red and white once again as Canada’s starter at the Olympic Games last month. The stakes don’t get higher than that. 

But what to make of his NHL numbers? Consistency has not been Binnington’s strong suit, and we’ve seen that play out plenty. After posting pedestrian numbers (2.69 GAA, .913 save percentage) in 56 appearances in 2024-25, his stats this season have gone in the wrong direction (3.60 GAA, .867 GAA). 

But the what-if of it all has to be alluring to contenders willing to bet on a higher upside in net. And because he’s not a true rental — the 32-year-old still has a year on his contract — he could make a lot of sense for a club entering a new era of contention. 

We know the upside is there, and we know he’s a player that can very quickly step into a role and be the elite netminder his team needs. 

“There are some people out there that don’t like the idea of acquiring a goalie in the middle of the year, especially when you don’t have a lot of practice time. But it’s twice in a row now that Binnington’s been on a really good team — a superstar team — at the 4 Nations and the Olympics, with not a lot of practice time, and he’s flourished. He’s been excellent. And also he’s been calm, he’s been under control,” Friedman said on Monday’s edition of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast. “The fact that he’s now done this twice in a row, in a compressed schedule, some of these teams that need goalies, I’d be betting on him.”

The tandem-builder: Anthony Stolarz, Toronto Maple Leafs

To say the Toronto Maple Leafs’ season hasn’t gone to plan would be… an understatement. So much so, that it seems there’s now a new plan on the horizon. Whether that’s a retool or a rebuild remains to be determined, but the impending changes make for some interesting questions in the crease. 

Anthony Stolarz was impressive enough in his first season as a Maple Leaf last season to earn a four-year, $15-million extension with the club. That he may not be a Maple Leaf when the new deal kicks in on July 1 isn’t really about his own performance — health has limited him to just 20 games this season, and while his numbers haven’t stood out he’s put up back-to-back strong performances in losses that were no fault of his own. Rather, it’s about the organization’s impending log jam in net and some tough choices ahead for a team that will likely need to make space for Dennis Hildeby with the big club full-time. Could Stolarz be the odd man out in a Hildeby-Woll duo? 

At 32, Stolarz is a perfect trade candidate for a team looking to go the tandem route. Stolarz’s term could scare off some, but the affordable cap hit ($3.75 million) and notable upside when healthy have to be appealing for both contenders looking for veteran insurance and on-the-cusp clubs alike. Only, trading him now would likely mean selling low on a valuable asset. 

The future No. 1: Jesper Wallstedt, Minnesota Wild

Trading away your young, talented goaltender may seem like a bad idea, but everything about the Minnesota Wild screams ‘win now!’ — and that applies to the crease, too. 

Wallstedt, 23, has been excellent in his rookie campaign, posting 14 wins with a 2.85 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage, but Filip Gustavsson is the guy here. His 2.54 GAA and .912 save percentage with 22 wins in 39 appearances has him among Vezina contenders and the unquestioned starter on this squad — and the five-year extension he signed in October tells us he’s the starter not just for now but for the foreseeable future. This crease could get crowded, and quick.

While Wallstedt surely holds a ton of value on the ice for Minnesota, the allure of what he may earn them on the market — a huge opportunity to recoup some draft capital, perhaps, or an NHL-ready difference-maker for this year’s push — is interesting. If he is indeed made available, he is GM Bill Guerin’s best chance at landing a big haul.

Wallstedt holds widespread appeal. He could help a contender win now, but would also be coveted by non-contenders looking for someone to build around (see Chicago’s acquisition of Knight last March, for example). The latter option points to any deals involving the young netminder coming in the summer rather than at the deadline, though — if at all.