The Philadelphia Flyers are in a position to make the playoffs but are suddenly in desperate need of a reliable backup goaltender. They could (and likely should) turn to the NHL trade market to address that; it\u2019s only fair to the team.<\/p>\n
The Cal Petersen<\/a> experiment quickly came to an unceremonious close, while Felix Sandstrom hasn\u2019t proven anything at the NHL level and has played poorly this year in the AHL.<\/p>\n There\u2019s one problem with trading, though: the Flyers have already stressed that they\u2019re not exploring the NHL trade market just for the sake of making a playoff run. But, if there\u2019s something in it for the Flyers beyond this season, then there could be a trade conversation.<\/p>\n Ideally, the Flyers will not force goaltending prospect Alexei Kolosov<\/a> to play NHL games right away, so they\u2019re left with two options: trade for a goalie with term now or sign a free agent in the summer. For the sake of this exercise, we\u2019ll assume the former, especially given there will be very few worthwhile free agent options this summer.<\/p>\n TSN\u2019s latest \u201cTrade Bait<\/a>\u201d list has three goaltenders inside of their top-20. Calgary Flames shot-stopper Jacob Markstrom (No. 10) will likely be far too expensive for the Flyers, but Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jake Allen (No. 13) might be worth a look with the Habs carrying three goaltenders.<\/p>\n Allen, 33, will have the Flyers covered next year at a $3.85 million cap hit.<\/p>\n San Jose Sharks goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen (No. 20) could also emerge as a Flyers trade<\/a> option, despite the fact that he\u2019ll be an unrestricted free agent in July. The NHL trade market isn\u2019t as hot for goalies as it was a few months ago, and the Sharks would be glad<\/a> to get what they can for Kahkonen.<\/p>\n The Nashville Predators are likely looking to move off of pending UFA Kevin Lankinen as they look to roll with a tandem of the elite Juuse Saros and the up-and-coming Yaroslav Askarov. Lankinen is looking more and more like the odd man out and could find himself on a new team by the end of the week.<\/p>\n Trading for UFAs like Kahkonen and Lankinen is only worthwhile if the Flyers<\/a> are able to re-sign them after the season.<\/p>\n If not, they\u2019ll be back to square one.<\/p>\n Markstrom and Saros are attracting most of the attention on the NHL trade<\/a> market at the moment, so now could be the perfect time for the Flyers to strike and buy low on a backup goalie.<\/p>\n For more\u00a0Flyers news<\/a>\u00a0and up-to-date coverage, visit\u00a0Philly Hockey Now\u00a0and like our Facebook page.
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