Offseason Goalie Movement Ramblings

We are one series away from the offseason, and the summer of 2026 is shaping up to be quite a musical chairs extravaganza.

Let's take a look at potential openings and goalie movement possibilities across the league.

We begin with the Atlantic Division winners, the Buffalo Sabres, who have an unusually excess of goalies: Luukkonen, Lyon, Ellis, and Levi.

All 4 are signed, the latter two for the same $812.5k amount.

With everyone healthy, it is UPL and Lyon that are top 2 on the depth chart. No one was given the reigns as the clear cut starter in the regular season or the playoffs. Coach Lindy Ruff would regularly alternate the tenders keeping them fresh.

Even before the Sabres added Ellis on waivers, Montreal native Devon Levi was unhappy to be stuck behind UPL and Lyon.

Levi, picked 212 in round 7, has 160 AHL games under his belt. He put up a 0.904% with the Rochester Americans this year in 52 games.

Another goalie that seems unhappy at the AHL level is Red Wings prospect Sebastian Cossa, a restricted free agent. He posted a 0.915% last year with the Grand Rapids Griffins. The 23 year old is a 1st round pick, drafted 15th overall, in 2021.

In the AHL playoffs, Cossa was benched in favour of Michal Postava who impressed with a 0.937 % in the AHL this year. Postava is signed for another year at 975k.

With Cam Talbot's deal expiring, and his below average performance at the World Championships, Talbot will not be back with the Red Wings and it is questionable if he will even be signed as an NHLer on free agency.

So who will play backup to John Gibson? If Trey Augustine graduates from the NCAA he is an option.

Augustine was drafted 41st overall (round 2 of the 2023 NHL draft). He has a solid 0.929% and 0.924% in the last two seasons at Michigan State University. The Red Wings extended him for 3 years at an AAV of 1.075M.

The Red Wings could also elect to let Trey Augustine marinate in the AHL, and move Postava up to the big leagues. That would leave Sebastian Cossa as the odd man out.

Both Levi and Cossa will be eager to head for greener pastures where they aren't blocked to advance within their respective organizations.

Their acquisition cost should not be too prohibitive as they aren't proven and had a sub 900k salary this past season.

With the cap rising significantly, there aren't too many teams that are tight to the cap. One such exception could be the Vegas Golden Knights who have UFA Rasmus Andersson to sign as well as RFA Pavel Dorofeyev. AFP Analytics estimates $8.987M x 6 years for Dorofeyev and $8.744M x 6 years for Andersson.

That puts the Golden Knights at about $110 million (cap is $104 million) with 11 forwards, 6 defenseman, and 2 goalies signed.

Note that Vegas does have $8.8M on LTIR for Pietrangelo.

The biggest cap casualty target then becomes Cup winner Adin Hill. John Tortorella has ran with Carter Hart all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals making Hill and his $6.25M x 5 years expendable. Finding a taker for that hefty contract might be difficult.

Hill has surpassed a 0.901% save percentage for seven consecutive years, before falling to an 0.870% this past season. His GSAx was a terrible -14.51 in only 27 games.

Other starters that have fallen from grace include the likes of Binnington and Montembault. Binnington ($6M x 1 year) and Montembault ($3.15M x 1 year) should be easier to move than Adin Hill, as they are both approaching UFA status.

Teams might overlook last season's poor performance and focus on previous workhorse stats such as
61, 58, and 56 games played in three consecutive seasons for Binnington before dropping to 41 last season. Likewise Montembault started 62 games in 2024-25.

Other available goalies in the hard to move albatross short term contract category include Tristan Jarry ($5.375M x 2 years) and Elvis Merzlikins (5.4M x 1 year).

There won't be much of an appetite for these 2 veterans unless salary is retained or a bad contract is included going the other way.

Free agency will showcase veterans S.Bobrovsky and F.Andersen. Due to the untimely passing of Claude Lemieux, Andersen will have a new agent (and possibly a Conn Smythe trophy) to help negotiate a new deal.

AFP Analytics predicts $5.95M x 2 years for Bobrovsky and $2.82 x 1 year for Andersen. The Hurricanes already have Kochetkov and Bussi signed next year, so it is entirely possible they let Freddie (age 36) walk after this deep cup run.

Yet another Atlantic team with a goalie to spare will be the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Woll is signed for another 2 years ($3.66M) and Stolarz for another 3 years ($3.75M). Dennis Hildeby, picked 122 in round 4 of the 2021 draft, is making 842k for another two years and is no longer waiver exempt. He put up a 0.914% in 20 NHL games (and 0.898% in 23 AHL games) last year. This could shake loose a Leafs goalie.

Let's not forget Artur Akhtyamov (picked 106 in round 4 of the 2020 draft) who is also chomping at the bit. He has stopped pucks at a 0.901% and a 0.904% rate in the last 2 seasons with the AHL Marlies.

Akhtyamov has played more than Hildeby in the regular season and the playoffs this year. Akhtyamov has a sterling 0.928% save percentage in 13 playoff games during the Calder Cup run.

After going to two straight cup finals, Stuart Skinner had a disappointing playoffs for the Penguins. He is an unrestricted free agent, projected at $4.4M x 2 years according to AFP Analytics.

With this plethora of excess available goalies, look for some to get squeezed out of roles and contracts, or be available at bargain prices.

The Los Angeles Kings turned to Anton Forsberg in the playoffs. Both Kuemper (age 36) and Forsberg (age 34) are signed for another year so an immediate change here may not be in the cards, but the lack of confidence in Kuemper could indicate that GM Ken Holland may be lurking in the weeds.

Lastly we will touch on the Minnesota Wild who are looking for help at the center position and may have a goalie to dangle.

At the trade deadline, Jesper Wallstedt (2.2M for another year then a restricted free agent) was rumoured to be available. He was also given preference over Filip Gustavsson as the playoff starter.

Gustavsson's $6.8M x 3 years contract kicks in July 1st. Regardless of who is the backup, it may not make sense for the Wild to commit this much money to the goaltender position.

This summer looks to be very interesting in terms of goalie movement across the league. It will be important to keep an eye out for the musical chairs results so we can target some hidden gems for the 2026-27 fantasy season.