Goalie carousel continues spinning on Day 2 of draft
MONTREAL — When Brian Maclellan declared his intention to change up the Washington Capitals’ goaltending situation, the seasoned general manager knew he was joining a crowded market given how many teams already had the same need.
It didn’t matter. He made a move anyway to trade a goalie and create a void in net.
“I jumped in,” Maclellan said. “I jumped into the fire. Probably not the smartest thing, right?”
Certainly not the cheapest thing. The goalie carousel kept spinning on the second day of the NHL draft, with Maclellan trading Vitek Vanecek to the New Jersey Devils and the Detroit Red Wings acquiring and signing Ville Husso from the St. Louis Blues.
Those moves were half of four completed Friday involving NHL players. The Philadelphia Flyers also got polarizing defenseman Anthony Deangelo from the Carolina Hurricanes for three high draft picks and the San Jose Sharks sent a pick and a prospect to the Nashville Predators for forward Luke Kunin. But the wheels in motion for goaltenders dominated the conversation and will continue to with free agency opening Wednesday.
“If you line it up and you look and kind of pay attention to what teams are thinking, it’s a little chaotic and scrambly,” Maclellan said. “You’ve got to be constantly monitoring it and seeing what’s happening.”
Things started happening Friday morning even before the start of the second round, with St. Louis trading Husso’s rights for the 73rd pick and Washington sending Vanecek and No. 46 to New Jersey for picks 37 and 70.
The domino effect started Thursday when the Stanley Cup-winning Colorado Avalanche got Alexandar Georgiev from the New York Rangers. That move ensured playoff starter Darcy Kuemper would hit the open market.
There’s no shortage of teams interested in Kuemper and other goaltenders available by trade or in free agency.
Husso was set to be one of those options before Detroit sent the 73rd pick to St. Louis for the 27-year-old Finn. He got a $14.25 million deal with a $4.75 million annual cap hit over the next three seasons.
The Red Wings will now pair Husso with Alex Nedeljkovic, whom they acquired last offseason, as they move from rebuilding into contending.
New Jersey is still a couple of years away from that, but the Devils needed a goalie and got one in Vanecek along with the 46th pick after sending Nos. 37 and 70 to Washington.