NHL Trade Deadline: Top Five Options for Goaltenders

Adam Proteau lists five goaltenders he thinks have a chance to switch teams by the 2024 NHL trade deadline, including the Flames' Jacob Markstrom and Canadiens' Jake Allen.

The NHL’s trade deadline is almost here, and THN.com has been examining the main options at each position. 

On Thursday, we broke down the top five defensemen available. on Saturday, we focused on the top five available forwards, and today, we’re finishing things off with the top five goalies available. In no particular order:

Unlike many goalies on the trade block, Markstrom has had a solid season thus far, posting a .914 save percentage and 2.57 goals-against average in 38 appearances. 

The 34-year-old has another two seasons left on his contract worth $6 million annually, but he’s the best available goalie on the market, and his salary isn’t a deal-breaker for teams desperate for above-average netminding.

Markstrom’s bounce-back season has him atop the group of available goalies. While there’s a chance Calgary GM Craig Conroy holds on to Markstrom and revisits a trade this coming summer, there’s enough interest now to get a deal completed by the deadline. 

Calgary may not get everything they’re looking for – namely, a first-round pick and an above-average prospect or NHL-ready young player – but Markstrom can bring back more than any other goalie currently on the trade block. A Markstrom trade may not happen, but it should.

The Sharks have been a disaster this season, but that’s by design as management plots out a long-term plan built around San Jose’s top young players. 

The 27-year-old Kahkonen does not fit into that group, so Sharks GM Mike Grier should take the best offer for the veteran goalie by the deadline. 

Kahkonen’s numbers, including a 3.70 GAA and .898 SP, aren’t great, but once you factor in the team that’s been playing in front of him, you can make a case he’ll be much-improved on a playoff-bound team.

Would the Buffalo Sabres try using Kahkonen to make a late-season run that doesn’t take away much, if anything, from their current roster? A third-round pick and/or an above-average young player will probably be enough to get a deal done for Kahkonen. 

Given that he’s a UFA at season’s end, Kahkonen would be on a lucrative tryout the rest of this season. His $2.75-million salary is much more affordable than Markstrom's, so you may see him moved well before the Flames goalie gets traded. But in any case, his time in San Jose is likely ending, and now, it’s about finding a good fit for him with a better team.

The Canadiens are going nowhere fast this year, and veteran netminder Allen probably would not be opposed to moving to a much better squad. 

The 33-year-old Allen has one year left on his contract after this season, but his annual salary of $3.85 million can work for most teams. The cost-certainty for him will likely make him more attractive than most goalies on the trade block.

Allen’s .892 SP and 3.68 GAA aren’t anything to write home about, but you can always count on potential trade partners to envision what a veteran like Allen could do on an above-average team. 

The Habs aren’t going to ask for an arm and a leg in any Allen trade – Montreal GM Kent Hughes will most likely accept a second- or third-rounder or an NHL-ready young player in his early twenties – so it’s more likely than not that Allen will be shipped out by or before deadline day. The teams that don't get a Markstrom or another starting goalie could look to Allen as Plan B, so it’s now more about “when,” not “if” Allen is moved.

The Coyotes once again have underwhelmed their way out of playoff contention, but you can’t fault Vejmelka for where Arizona is in the standings. The 27-year-old has lost the starter’s job to Connor Ingram, and Vejmelka’s $2.725-million salary is an affordable payday that makes him more attractive than, say, Allen or Markstrom.

Vejmelka is signed through next season, so that may get Arizona GM Bill Armstrong even more young players and draft picks than the Coyotes already have. But with Ingram, the clear choice for the present and future, Vejmelka is spinning his wheels in the desert. A fresh, new start may be the best tonic for whatever it is that’s been ailing Vejmelka this season.

We include Saros on the list of long-shot goalies to be traded, as you are never sure what the Predators are ready to do by the deadline. Nashville’s recent hot streak has put rumors of a Saros trade on the back burner for the Preds, but if Nashville GM Barry Trotz gets a big-time offer for the 28-year-old, you’d better believe he’s willing to consider it.

Saros has one more season left on his contract after this campaign, and his $5-million-per-year contract makes him highly attractive to any team looking for short- and long-term help. 

Saros would likely cost a team a first-round pick, a Grade-A prospect and a young player currently in the NHL. That’s a lot to ask of any potential trade partner, but Saros has a lot to give, and he’s the most talented goalie potentially available. It would take a blockbuster offer to get Saros moved, but if Trotz does dangle him, there’d be no shortage of potential suitors for him.