New York Islanders: Potential goalie options not named Lehner or Bob
The almighty trade.
If you are still reading this, I have not forgotten about the idea of a trade. With options thin in the system and free agency hardly a place to rely on for top-notch goaltending, the New York Islanders and their Hall of Fame General Manager could get creative. That would be to trade for a goalie.
One option that comes to mind is very recent in that the San Jose Sharks are shopping Aaron Dell. He is a goalie option and the Sharks are looking to clear cap space which the Islanders have. So, that is an easy idea because Dell is 30 and is out of the conference so he could be easily molded and it’s a fresh start for all parties.
Beyond what is out there, trades are nearly impossible to predict and it’s really all only speculative. As far as that goes, some trades could make sense. The free agents to be in 2020 could be dealt if not now, then at some point during the season. At which point we’ll all where the Islanders are at.
Some of the names on that list include Jimmy Howard, Corey Crawford, Jacob Markstrom, Darcy Kuemper, and Brain Elliott. Perhaps, maybe, a rebuilding Blackhawks team could deal away Crawford for the right price, but again, just speculating, his roots there are pretty deep.
Overall, the Islanders goaltending options are crystal clear 1) bring back Lehner 2) sign Bobrovsky 3) anything else means they’ll have to get creative, but hey, at least those options simply exist.
Overall, Islanders fans have to trust in Barry Trotz and his goalie coaching staff because they took an unwanted goaltender, Lehner and made him a must re-sign/in-expendable member of the team. Additionally, they took another one, Greiss who is a solid option should all else fail when just two years ago he was part of the team’s failures.
At the end of the day, simply a body, a person who takes up physical space, could be a solid goalie for the Islanders. But, if they truly want to win and not mess with what is not broken, they need to get creative and find an actual option between the pipes this offseason. With that, they can make a serious run at the Cup as long as they clean up some other odds and ends as well.
dark. Next. No extension for Lee only means this one thing
The Islanders might be fine in 2019-2020, but that could be in spite of poor goaltending because I don’t know how that will pan out beyond Bobrovsky and Lehner if it’s neither. It could be one of these options, or something unpredictable. Either way, they need a goaltender, obviously.