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Fantasy Prospects Report
400+ drafted prospects · NHL Draft section · 20th Edition

July 1st brought us a new goalie landscape with plenty of new faces in new places.
Let's take a look at all the latest crease developments and the fantasy implications.
Jacob Markstrom's 0.883% save percentage was his lowest in a decade. His -11.9 GSAx was 10th worst in the league. Yet he was acquired by Florida to be their starter.
This is his second stint with the team as he was the 31st overall pick in the 2008 draft by these very Panthers. Akira Schmid was also acquired in a trade from Vegas this offseason.
Markstrom could make a sneaky pickup as wins will be easy to come by if you have Barkov, Reinhart, and the Tkachuk brothers on your team.
The departure of Schmid leaves Carter Hart and Adin Hill as the backstop duo in Vegas.
Ideally, Vegas would like to get rid of Adin Hill's onerous contract ($6.25M x 5 years) but there is no way any team is taking that on even with a rising cap.
GM Kelly McCrimmon sounded like someone putting a positive spin on the fact that he is relegated to being stuck with that contract. “You set out in September 1st, and if you’re hoping to play in the Stanley Cup Final, you’re going to play 104, 105 hockey games. You need two goaltenders to get through that. I think we have a great tandem."
He added: "I think Adin is gonna bounce back; I think he’s a good goalie who had a tough season. We need him to return to form, and we expect that he will. Carter made a great impression, getting us straight to the Stanley Cup Final. So, I think we’re in good shape at that position."
Carter Hart (-0.247 GSAx/60) and Adin Hill (-0.569 GSAx/60) were both terrible during the regular season.
Luckily for Vegas, Hart was able to improve his play in the post-season (+0.087 GSAx/60) under the coaching of John Tortorella, his former bench boss in Philadelphia.
One of the better playoff performances was by Canadiens goalie Jakub Dobes (+13.3 GSAx) helping Montreal reach the Eastern Conference finals where they lost to the eventual Cup champs.
Dobes was rewarded with a $16 million extension paid out over 3 years. The Habs have 3 goalies signed and although Jacob Fowler is waiver exempt, upper management would ideally like to give him NHL experience.
It is Sam Montembault that is being shopped but there is a small possibility that GM Kent Hughes is unable to find a fit and Montreal carries three goalies.
Another smaller possibility is that GM Kent Hughes capitalizes on Jakub Dobes' meteoric rise in value and trades him. In fact, it was rumoured that Dobes was part of the massive package offered to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Kirill Marchenko this summer.
Speaking of the Blue Jackets, they are looking to give more playing time to Jet Greaves. Elvis Merzlikins name is on the trade block but there haven't been any takers as of yet. Phoenix Copley signed with Columbus for $850k. He will likely graduate to being a backup once (if?) Merzlikins is dealt. Jet Greaves makes a good buy low candidate with the upcoming expected rise in usage.
Of note, Greaves is a restricted free agent who is no longer offersheet eligible because he filed for arbitration. Adam Fantilli is offersheet eligible.
Columbus strangely might welcome an offersheet as it will give them a chance to lock up Fantilli long term. They have $21.46M in cap space, so matching shouldn't be an issue.
In Tampa Bay, GM Julien Brisebois has gone on record to say that newly acquired Dennis Hildeby will be the backup to Andrei Vasilevsky.
That means last year's backup Jonas Johansson is available. The Lightning also signed Olivier Rodrigue and Mads Sogard to identical $850k contracts for depth at the AHL level.
Cup winner Freddie Andersen signed a $2.8M one year deal with Edmonton. He joins Sebastian Cossa and Tristan Jarry as the three netminders. Cossa is a real sleeper pick due to Jarry's inconsistent play and Andersen's age and injury concerns.
The Bruins dealt Joonas Korpisalo to the Rangers where he will backup Igor Shesterkin. Not sure why the Rangers paid assets (4th round pick and a prospect) when so many similar goalies were available on the free agent market. Connor Ingram for example remains unsigned.
Mike Dipietro will play behind Jeremy Swayman. Dipietro has put up a save percentage of 0.930% and 0.927% over his last two seasons with the Providence Bruins.
The Sharks added Eric Comrie to the mix for $1.15M x 2 years. He joins Alex Nedeljkovic and Yaroslav Askarov. None of these three are waiver exempt, and Nedeljkovic has a 3 team trade list for this year. I'm not sure what the plan is for their usage, other than Askarov getting more starts than the others. GM Grier is always active on the trade front, so it is possible one of them is dealt.
Nedeljkovic's $3M salary likely precludes him from being picked up on waivers if the Sharks decide to go with Askarov and Comrie as their tandem.
Daniel Tarasov signing for $2M in Detroit makes it seem like he will be the backup to John Gibson, while Trey Augustine marinates in the AHL. Augustine posted a save percentage of 0.929% and 0.924% in his last two seasons at Michigan State University.
Vitek Vanecek will join a healthy Semyon Varlamov as a potential backup for Ilya Sorokin. This is a fantasy situation to avoid as neither will get enough volume to warrant rostering.
A similar situation in Ottawa where the backups to Linus Ullmark will only be relevant if Ullmark undergoes a physical or mental setback.
GM Steve Staios signed both Sam Ersson (-17.3) and Leevi Merilainen (-16.5) who were amongst the lowest ranked goalies in GSAx.
Sergei Bobrovsky had a poor year in Florida (-12.2 GSAx) only stopping 87.7% of shots he faced. That 0.877% is the lowest of his career. The Maple Leafs still spent a good chunk ($7M) of their cap space on him. This deal will expire when Bobrovsky is 40 years old.
Anthony Stolarz will back up Bobrovsky just like the good old days in Florida. I would let another fantasy GM take the risk on Bobrovsky. He is getting older, wasn't good last year, and the Maple Leafs have not been playing inspired hockey.
Furthermore, they are in the ultra competitive Atlantic Division where accumulating wins will not be easy. Sure the Leafs re-jigged their bottom six, added Raddysh, and drafted Gavin McKenna but other than that they are more or less the same team.
Stuart Skinner returned to Canada inking a $3.75M x 2 year contract with the Winnipeg Jets. He could be the starting goalie if Connor Hellebuyck is dealt.
Skinner makes a good late round stash but he will use up a roster spot and who knows how long you will have to wait for a Hellebuyck trade.
Another signing that scares me is Dan Vladar getting $5.5M x 5 years after one good season. He did finish top ten in the league with a +13.8 GSAx, but his career save percentage is 0.898%.
GM Danny Briere acquired Joseph Woll so Vladar may not get as many starts as he did this past year.
The Devils traded away Jacob Markstrom and expressed confidence in the tandem of Nico Daws and Jake Allen. GM Sunny Mehta stated that he wants to give Daws a chance but then followed that up with an insurance signing of David Rittich. Let's see how this shakes out in training camp, keep an eye out in the New Jersey crease as it may give you an idea for a successful late pick in your fantasy drafts.