Top free agent goalie Smith in limbo
Phoenix Coyotes goalie Mike Smith, arguably the best free agent heading to the open market this summer, is the most intriguing story right now.
Why? Because he doesn’t know if the Coyotes will stay in the desert, and he only has a contract through June 30.
Smith might want to stay where he is, but what if the team moves to Quebec City or Seattle? After all, NHL owners who have paid the Coyotes bills for four years while trying to find an owner, may finally say the team can’t be a ward of the league any longer.
Phoenix general manager Don Maloney, who’s tasked with paying Smith a fair price, is a lame- duck manager after June 30.
How much is Smith worth? How long do they sign him for? This is a guy who will get serious consideration for Canada’s 2014 Olympic team in Sochi.
The most recent contract negotiation for an NHL goaltender involves Detroit Red Wings veteran Jimmy Howard. He’s likely signing for six years at a $ 5.3- million salary- cap hit, which could be the range for Smith. Howard could play for Team USA at the Olympics.
Top- 10 NHL goalie salaries range from Pekka Rinne’s $ 7- million cap with the Nashville Predators to Vancouver Canucks’ Roberto Luongo at $ 5.33 million. Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers is at $ 6.875 million ; Ilya Bryzgalov, Philadelphia Flyers, $ 6.5 million; Cam Ward, Carolina Hurricanes, and Ryan Miller, Buffalo Sabres, at $ 6.25 million; Niklas Backstrom, Minnesota Wild, $ 6 million; Marc- Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh Penguins, $ 5.55 million, and Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens, at $ 5.5 million.
Smith really can’t be looking for more than Fleury, who has a Stanley Cup ring with the Penguins, or Ward, who has one with the Hurricanes.
His ticket is comparable with Detroit’s Howard, who’s 29 and has played 215 games. Smith just turned 31 and has played 258 NHL games.
“From February of last year and through the playoffs, Mike was as good as any goaltender in the league,” said Maloney, one of the NHL’s sharpest minds. “This year, not quite so good. We’re not a cap team and we have to be careful when we’re talking a contract with a five or six- year term. We can’t make a mistake.
“You look at the top goalies, the Lundqvists of the world ... They’ve done it for three, four, five years in a row and they’ve attained a certain level. The long and short of it is Mike is a terrific talent, and if you take a snapshot of what he did last season with what he’s done in his career ... we have some, I wouldn’t say uncertainty, but there is a bit of caution there.”