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Tuesday, August 7
Goalies might get bounced before trade deadline

By Al Morganti
Special to ESPN.com

A lot of whispers around the NHL suggest the men behind the masks could figure prominently in any late-season trades, or those last-minute deals at the March 14 trading deadline.

In addition to the usual angst about goalies, teams also have to throw into the equation an upcoming expansion draft, and nobody wants to risk losing a goaltending property for nothing. Either that, or they want to have a goalie they can risk losing, so they don't lose the goalie they really want to protect.

Nothing more than rumor and not-so-idle conversation with scouts, management personnel and agents, but here are some goalies who could be moved by the end of the season, along with teams looking to add or subtract a man in a mask.


	John Vanbiesbrouck might not be good enough for Philly, but others may covet him.

The Detroit Red Wings are certainly not shy about late-season moves -- just ask Chris Chelios and Ulf Samuelsson, who were added last spring along with veterans Wendel Clark and Bill Ranford. Despite a strong season, indications are the Wings aren't totally confident in their goaltending and the health of Chris Osgood.

Who could be headed for Detroit? How about Flyers goalie and Michigan native John Vanbiesbrouck?

In fact, despite the opinion of many that Vanbiesbrouck isn't good enough to bring a Cup to Philly, there are suggestions that the San Jose Sharks might also make a play for Vanbiesbrouck.

Vanbiesbrouck brings the veteran savvy of a goalie who has been through the playoffs many times, and the memory of him leading the Florida Panthers to the finals in 1996 is not too distant to deter people from thinking he can do it again.

The obvious question here -- would the Flyers be willing to risk a playoff run with rookie Brian Boucher? The answer is that there is no way the Flyers would go into the playoffs with Boucher as their top guy with no veteran on the roster.

The Flyers public posture right now is one of total outrage that there are even suggestions they are looking for a goalie. Well, don't be shocked if scouts for the team show up at Montreal games to see Jeff Hackett, or in Buffalo to see what Dominik Hasek looks like when he returns.

Montreal is getting solid goaltending from Jose Theodore, and Hackett's salary for next season (about $4 million) is likely a little rich for their payroll. Montreal used last spring as a time to dump veterans for whatever they could get (Vincent Damphousse and Mark Recchi) and it's not unlikely they will again make moves.

The situation with Hasek gets more intriguing by the day. The Sabres are rightfully upset that he would even think about playing in the All-Star Game on Feb. 6 if he is healthy and just returned from his groin injury.

Beyond that, the Sabres have no complaints with rookie Martin Biron, and they might never get a thing for Hasek, who is supposed to be retiring after this season. Fewer and fewer people are convinced that would be the case, so the Sabres might have to make a deal in which the trade value is "conditional" on whether Hasek comes back next season.

The other big name goalie who has already seen his name in the rumor mill is Colorado's Patrick Roy, but you can count on Roy making one last Stanley Cup run with the Avalanche before he changes uniforms before the start of next season.

The Vancouver Canucks are again staring at a spring with no playoffs, and by the time the trade deadline rolls around, goalie Garth Snow will be on the trade market, mostly because he will be unwilling to serve quietly as a backup to Felix Potvin when Potvin returns from his knee injury.

All these masked men, and we still haven't mentioned Nikolai Khabibulin in Phoenix as a still-unsigned free agent. Indeed, it should be an interesting next few months in the world of NHL goalies.

Other hot Devils get attention
Much of the attention around the New Jersey Devils has gone to rookie of the year favorite Scott Gomez, who is playing on a line with Claude Lemieux. However, the Devils' first line of Patrik Elias, Jason Arnott and Petr Sykora has as much to do with the club's success as any facet.

Unlike the NHL trend of two stars to carry a line, such as Keith Tkachuk and Jeremy Roenick in Phoenix , Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya in Anaheim, or John LeClair and Eric Lindros in Philly, the Devils have been using their top three for more than a year with productive results.

The Devils, who still rely on the steady play of veteran defenseman Scott Stevens and the heroics of goalie Martin Brodeur, also have eight players on a pace to score 20 or more goals, something no Eastern conference team did last season.

And one of the reasons the Flyers traded for Keith Primeau last week was to try to knock those Devils off balance.

Tocchet on the move again?
The Phoenix Coyotes are likely to move veteran Rick Tocchet before the trade deadline. Considering that the Penguins had interest in Kevin Stevens before he was checked into a substance abuse program earlier this week, it makes sense the Pens will ask about Tocchet. Remember, Tocchet was a teammate of owner Mario Lemieux and part of one Stanley Cup champion in Pittsburgh.

The Coyotes will lose Tocchet as an unrestricted free agent in June if they don't move him this season. The other team that should have some interest are the Flyers, who could offer Mikael Renberg, a younger player who fits into the Coyotes payroll parameters.

Al Morganti covers the NHL for ESPN.


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