Catching Up On the NHL's 2023 Off-Season Goalie Carousel

The NHL off-season is full of exciting – and sometimes nerve-racking – changes in net. Carol Schram has the top goalie carousel storylines heading into August.

Welcome to August, when we start looking ahead at what the new hockey season will hold.

It's usually a pretty quiet month for player movement in the NHL — although the 35th anniversary of Wayne Gretzky's monumental trade to the Los Angeles Kings is coming up next week, on Aug. 9. 

But with many GMs enjoying a little bit of downtime in their busy schedules, it's a good opportunity to take a look at how rosters for the new season are coming into focus.

Overviews of the defensemen and forwards who have changed addresses will be coming later this week. For today, let's focus on the summer's most intriguing changes in net.

There was only one significant UFA move among goaltenders on July 1. Joonas Korpisalo joined the Ottawa Senators on a five-year deal with a cap hit of $4 million per season. 

Korpisalo, 29, will join Anton Forsberg and first call-up Mads Sogaard, who remains exempt from waivers. He's essentially replacing Cam Talbot, who put up a 17-14-2 record in a team-high 36 games with the Senators last season. But Talbot saw his save percentage slip to .898 during his season in Ottawa.

The Senators' 13-point improvement in the standings was largely driven by offense, with 35 more goals scored than one season earlier. But their goals against also increased, by six, ranking the team 20th in the league with 3.29 goals allowed per game. 

In Columbus last season, Korpisalo managed a .913 save percentage despite playing on a struggling team. Once he arrived in Los Angeles at the trade deadline, he showed what he can do behind a structured team defense – his save percentage jumped to .921, and his GAA dropped to an impressive 2.13. 

Korpisalo won't have the same support in front of him in Ottawa, but the Sens' defense should be better. They'll have a full season of Jakob Chychrun playing big minutes alongside Thomas Chabot, and Jake Sanderson should take another step forward following a successful rookie campaign.

As for Talbot, the 36-year-old will suit up for his seventh NHL team this fall after signing a one-year contract with the Kings. 

The deal is worth just $1 million against the salary cap this year. But because Talbot is over 35, he's eligible for performance bonuses. He'll get another $1 million if he appears in 10 games for the Kings this year, according to PuckPedia.

That seems likely. After Jonathan Quick's deadline departure and Cal Petersen's off-season trade to the Philadelphia Flyers, that leaves 31-year-old Pheonix Copley in L.A.'s No. 1 spot. 

With just 31 NHL games on his resumé before last season, Copley stepped in to replace the struggling Petersen and shone – he posted a record of 24-6-3 in 37 games, with a .903 save percentage. But the Kings elected to acquire the more experienced Korpisalo at the trade deadline and went with him as their playoff starter. Copley logged just 28:11 of ice time in the Kings' first-round playoff loss to the Edmonton Oilers.

As for Quick, you'll find him on Broadway this fall. The 37-year-old will be backing up Igor Shesterkin on a deal with a cap hit of $825,000 and $100,000 in potential performance bonuses.

On July 1, the Kings also signed David Rittich to a one-year deal worth $875,000. He turns 31 on Aug. 19 and had a decent season with the Winnipeg Jets last year, going 9-8-1 with a .901 save percentage and 2.67 GAA.

In Rittich's old backup spot, Laurent Brossoit returns for a second tour of duty in Winnipeg after two years in Vegas. Even with Brossoit gone, the Golden Knights are actually status quo in net for once. Adin Hill and Logan Thompson are set to divvy up the duties next season.

Speaking of the status quo, several other teams also stuck with familiar faces when setting their goalie tandems for next season.

With the Carolina Hurricanes knocking at the door of a championship, Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta opted to re-sign rather than seek a different opportunity.

Semyon Varlamov, 35, is also back on Long Island on a substantial four-year deal at a cap hit of $2.75 million. He'll continue his partnership with Ilya Sorokin, who turns 28 later this week. His eight-year, $66-million extension kicks in next season.

The Pittsburgh Penguins re-committed to Tristan Jarry for five years at $5.375 million annually. Casey DeSmith remains in the fold, signed for one more year, but Penguins president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas also added two veterans to the netminding mix in Alex Nedeljkovic (1 year, $1.5 million) and Magnus Hellberg (1 year, $785,000).

Nedeljkovic and Hellberg were with the Detroit Red Wings last season and also spent time with the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins. To fill out his depth chart, Detroit GM Steve Yzerman signed veteran free agents James Reimer and Alex Lyon to join Ville Husso. Reimer's on a 35-plus contract at $1.5 million, while 'the Lyon King' got two years at $900,000 per season.

With Reimer gone from San Jose, Sharks GM Mike Grier is rolling the dice on Mackenzie Blackwood. Grier acquired the rights to the once highly touted 26-year-old from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for a sixth-round pick, then signed him to a new two-year deal at a cap hit of $2.35 million. He'll share the San Jose net with Kaapo Kahkonen.

That leaves New Jersey running it back with Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid, with Nico Daws waiting in the wings. But after the Devils hurled themselves into the playoff conversation in the Metropolitan Division last spring, there has been plenty of conversation about whether they'd be looking for a more established stopper as their last line of defense. 

With one year remaining on his contract, Connor Hellebuyck has made it known he doesn't plan to sign another deal with the Winnipeg Jets. The Devils could be a good fit. John Gibson could also be on the move out of Anaheim, although his agent Kurt Overhardt stated in early July that Gibson currently remains an honored member of the Ducks.

With Gibson's former backup Anthony Stolarz now in Florida, 23-year-old Lukas Dostal is set to play his first full-time NHL season with the Ducks this fall.

A handful of veteran free agents also remain unsigned and may still find homes. Martin Jones, Alex Stalock, Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott are all north of 33 years old, but each keeper played more than 20 games last season. Of the four, Jones delivered the best record at 27-13-3 for the Seattle Kraken, while Stalock logged the best save percentage at .908 for the Chicago Blackhawks.