3 intriguing goalie situations.

 Detroit, ST.Louis and LA have long term questions in net.

Hey guys and welcome back to another End to End Hockey Blog Post, I am glad you guys can join me today as we have a interesting blog to discuss as after doing some digging I have discovered that 3 teams which include the (Kings, Wings and Blues) all have very uncertain futures in net as all 3’s current goalie duos for those 3 teams are pending UFA’s, so today we will look at all 3 teams and figure out how they may handle the situation this year and what they might do going into the future in net as they is a strong possibility all 3 teams have major shake ups in net before next offseason.

1.) Kings D.Kuemper-A.Forsberg

Quick analysis; so we will start here with the Kings as they have both of their goalies this year currently a year away from becoming UFA’s, now this will be Kuemper’s 3rd season in LA and it has been a up and down tenure for him for sure as after being acquired 3 offseasons ago for PLD, Kuemper became the starter in LA and stabilized the goal as he had a great season 2 year ago giving LA a lot of great games and even being a Vezina finalist, however he wasn’t able to help LA get passed Edmonton in the postseason and then heading into last season he was still the starter but had a awful start and by the midway point of the season, he had lost the starting job to Forsberg who played in the playoffs and now he is trying to bounce back as LA’s 1A.

Meanwhile this is Forsberg’s second season with LA and had a very impressive first year in LA as after being brought in to be the backup he would outplay Kuemper and take the starting job helping LA back to the playoffs but he still didn’t give LA enough good starts in the postseason as they got swept last year and now Forsberg is back for another season. 

So the way I think this goes for LA is they start the year with Kuemper as 1A and Forsberg as 1B, if they are both playing alright I think there is a good chance these two spend the entire year in LA but if one or both are playing slightly below average I wouldn’t be shocked if LA made a in-season trade for a goalie (and maybe moved Kuemper as he has a higher cap hit), but unless one of them has a unbelievable season this year, with both of them getting up there in age I wouldn’t be shocked if the Kings walked away from them in free agency and brought in a new tandem for next year and they also have decent goalie prospect Portillo who I could see be the backup for this team next year and may still have a future starting in the NHL, so I think LA keeps Kuemper and Forsberg for this year but most likely let them go next year and bring in some new guys for 27-28 so that is my thoughts on LA.  

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2.) Blues J.Binnington-J.Hoefer 

So next going over to the St.Louis Blues as both of their goalies right now are also entering the final year of their deals and about to become UFA’s, now first up for the Blues is Binnington who is entering his 8th year with the Blues (and has spent his entire career in St.Louis), now Binnington burst onto the scene in St.Louis back in 18-19 and fuelled the Blues to their first ever Stanley Cup back in 18-19 and the next few years after were really good for Binnington which earned him a long term deal with the Blues, however over the past 3-4 years Binnington’s play has gotten worse and worse as his save% and GAA just has never gotten back to the level it was at when the Blues won the Cup and last year he was so bad that he lost the starting role on the team to Hofer.

So Binnington is looking for a bounce back season and he has also been in the trade mill for the past two years but has stayed in St.Louis and is now trying to get the starting job back from Hofer, meanwhile speaking of Hofer this is going to be his 4th full season at the NHL Level as it took him some time to develop but a few years ago he took the backup role in St.Louis away from Husso, and while his first couple seasons were a bit rough the last two years Hofer has picked up the pace a lot and has been putting up some great numbers and got the starting job from

Binnington last year and was a huge reason as to why the Blues had such a good late season push last year, and now he is going into this season trying to keep the starting role from Binnington. So when it comes to the Blues I think they go different ways with their goalies this offseason, now it really does depend on how each does this year, but if I had to guess I would think that sometime between now and the deadline the Blues sign Hofer to a 3-5 year deal to keep him as the teams starter as he is younger then Binnington and has been a far better goalie, while I think there is a chance the Blues maybe move Binnington at the trade deadline for some sort of package, I could also see  the Blues just walk away from him in free agency next year, and I don’t believe that Binnington will be back beyond this year as I think he will probably go to be the starter elsewhere, and the Blues don’t have any prospect that seem close right now so I think they would go out next offseason and acquire a backup for Hofer, so those are my thoughts on the Blues as I think they keep Hofer, let Binnington go and find a backup for Hofer and I think that could stabilize the goaltending going forward. 

3.) Red Wings J.Gibson-D.Tarasov

Next we go over to the Red Wings where unlike the other two teams who have had their goalies for a couple of years now, the Red Wings are in a little bit more of a unique position with their two UFA goalies entering this year as this is a little bit of a new goalie tandem, now first up with Wings starter John Gibson, as the lone time Anaheim Duck who had some great years in Anaheim finally got his wish last year and got dealt by the Ducks as the Wings who were in need of a starter acquired Gibson to be their starter last year, and in his first season in Detroit Gibson didn’t look half bad as he didn’t have fantastic stats especially at the end of the year, but he still proved he can be a very serviceable 50-55 game starter in the NHL and will be looking to prove that again this year in a contract season.

Now as for the backup position last year they had vet Cam Talbot be the backup and he wasn’t the best backup in the NHL, so because of that and his age the Wings let him walk and brought in former Panther and Jackets goalie Daniil Tarasov to be the teams backup for this year, now it took a while for Tarasov to emerge at the NHL level but the past two years he has shown some solid flashes at the NHL level as being a solid goalie and is on the younger side of things and I think after having not great stats with Florida last year, he should be able to bounce backup and be a great 1B goalie to Gibson, now when it comes to what I think the Wings will do by next offseason, I think a lot of it hinges on Augustine, Trey Augustine is the goalie of the future for the Red Wings and playing in the AHL this year and if he looks good then I think he will be a backup next season for the Wings in which case I believe Tarasov would probably leave but I think they might try and keep Gibson to mentor Augustine, while if they think he needs another season then I think they have to look for 2 short term goalies and in that case depending on the season they have I could definitely see one or both guys be back for Detroit, so I think it all comes down to Augustine but at this point I don’t think both Wings current goalies are going to stay in Detroit beyond this year. 

SO that is my thoughts on the Blues, Kings and Wings goalie situations and what I think they could do for next year, but I would love to hear your thoughts below on if guys like Binnington, Forsberg or Gibson could leave and who might their goalies be next year, let me know in the comments below, leave a follow and comment and don’t forget to check out my YouTube channel as well.