In the middle of the Stanley Cup Final, three trades happened in a week-long span that shook up the climate of the NHL. One common theme is that they all involved goaltenders, and some of them had their fair share of surprising elements on them. The trades will be graded in each one of their fronts.
Pierre-Luc Dubois/Darcy Kuemper One-For-One Swap
Washington Capitals: C
The Capitals were one of the oldest teams in the NHL based on average age. Now they got younger down the middle, and found someone that can play a role in getting Alex Ovechkin to breaking Wayne Gretzky’s goal record. However, the heavy question is if taking on the remaining seven years of Pierre-Luc Dubois’ contract at an $8.5 million AAV was the right move, and to not have any salary retained involved in the deal.
The evidence of him potentially being a top six center was with his stints in Columbus and Winnipeg. He can also land a role on the power play, and it’s the offensive output that the Caps need to boost on the goal scoring totals from where they ranked in 2023-24. They were 28th in goals per game (2.63) and 30th in shots per game (26.5). The anemic output in both the regular season and the playoffs had them addressing the need for their attack. And if the Caps can get the pre-Kings version of Dubois, this is good for them.
However, if they do land the Kings version of Dubois, the team may be average at best. Especially given that Nicklas Backstrom may have likely played his last game in the NHL. Dubois on the team also fills in the hole left behind by Evgeny Kuznetsov getting traded to the Hurricanes, but what happens if Dubois underwhelms? This will be his fourth team that he will be playing for this decade, and with the contract that he is on, he should be primed for a bounce-back year, otherwise there will be speculation that the contract is going to look like an anchor contract given that he will be on a no-movement clause starting this coming season until 2028.
There is also the question about who is going to start in net. As of now, Charlie Lindgren is the only NHL goaltender on the team, and has one more year left on his contract before he is set to test free agency. The Caps also have just over $1 million of cap space, and their options are very limited. They may need to make another move to clear cap space, otherwise they may be staring at either Hunter Shepard or Clay Stevenson promoted to the active roster, and while they have been solid with the Hershey Bears, they are raw at the NHL level.
Los Angeles Kings: B-
What can essentially explain this trade is a swap of bad contracts. Kuemper’s inclusion, on the other hand, gives the Kings another option in net while clearing $3.25 million in cap space. It’s important to note, however, that he has been on the decline in the last two seasons, losing his starting spot to Lindgren at the tail end of the season last year, and was demoted to backup goaltender for the playoffs.
It’s going to be interesting, however, to see if he can find back that groove that made him a high-end starter with the Coyotes. A Stanley Cup champion with the Avalanche, he had a .902 save percentage and a 3.03 goals-against average with the Capitals while getting a 35-40-10 record.
The trade also gets the Kings out of one of the biggest blunders of Rob Blake’s career as the team’s general manager. As the Kings will have $23.45 million of cap space this offseason, it gives them more room to re-sign pending UFAs Viktor Arvidsson and Matt Roy, and pending RFAs Quinton Byfield, Arthur Kaliyev, Blake Lizotte, and Carl Grundstrom. At first for the Dubois trade, the idea was that he meshes in with the team to help them on the attack, but after a down year, it led to questions of what to do to take the next step, and they chose to move on from him.
Goaltending, however, has been a need for them, as they have gone through a litany of goalie options where they have utilized Jonathan Quick, Pheonix Copley, Joonas Korpisalo, David Rittich, and Cam Talbot over the last three years. Kuemper could give the team more playoff experience to get them out of the first round. He could also benefit from a stronger defensive core in Los Angeles.
Devils Land Their Starter in Jacob Markstrom
New Jersey Devils: A-
The Devils’ roster as currently constructed has the tools to make a deep playoff run. Jack and Luke Hughes, Nico Hischier, Dougie Hamilton, Jesper Bratt, Timo Meier and Simon Nemec stand out in New Jersey. Goaltending, however, was holding the team back, and it didn’t just decline last season, it crashed and burned to where the Devils fell way short of their expectations of championship aspirations. The team is 30th in save percentage over the last three seasons, which is where they were last season as well.
While they acquired Jake Allen from the Canadiens, general manager Tom Fitzgerald wanted to go after another veteran netminder to complete the tandem. Markstrom was the go-to guy, and now they have completed the tandem. While his record wasn’t impressive at first sight in 2023-24, he did record 13.7 goals saved above expected with a .905 save percentage and a 2.78 goals-against average behind a Flames team that had their worst defensive season under first-year head coach Ryan Huska.
They couldn’t turn to free agency to improve in goaltending. There were only three significant goaltenders available for trade, assuming that Juuse Saros stays in Nashville. Markstrom made the most sense for New Jersey. That also goes along with Sheldon Keefe’s defensive system, which ran smoothly in Toronto in the last three seasons. In theory, Markstrom should benefit from Keefe’s system, and having a high-end backup in Allen means that Markstrom is not going to get burned out.
From a short-term standpoint, it should be a win for the Devils, given that Markstrom has two years left on his contract. However, he is 34 years old, and there are concerns about goaltenders when they play beyond 33. While Kevin Bahl is not someone they would want to trade away, you have to give something away when acquiring a top netminder, and the Devils and always find a replacement player for Bahl in free agency. Plus, getting the Flames to retain 31.25% of Markstrom’s cap hit means the Devils will take on Markstrom at a $4.125 million cap hit.
Calgary Flames: B+
While the return may be underwhelming at first, it’s not a bad one for the Flames. Bahl was in his first full season in the NHL, and as such, rookie mistakes can happen. His possession metrics were subpar, where he had a 48.3% Corsi For share and 48.7% expected goals for share at even strength. However, he did have a strong season as the Devils’ best defenseman in goals above replacement and their best defenseman in expected goals against per 60 minutes at even strength.
Bahl has the opportunity to blossom with Calgary, and, at 23, is someone the Flames can control for some time. His 6′ 6″, 230 lbs. frame gives a lot of intrigue for Calgary, with general manager Craig Conroy saying that he was a “priority player” through discussions with the Devils. With a lot of room to grow, Bahl has top-four shutdown upside.
Conroy was in a tough situation when he was hired by the Flames, and managed to trade away his older veterans and recouped the value with draft picks, prospects, and youthful players. Plus, with a 2025 top-10 protected first round pick headed to the Flames, that gives them two first rounders in each of the next three Drafts (the pick will be transferred to 2026 if it lands in the top 10). Even when they had to retain salary, getting a young defenseman and a pick isn’t bad.
This is true when their goaltender is not in their long-term plans. What they’re looking to do in net now is that they turn to promising 23-year-old Dustin Wolf in net, who has been ranked by many as one of the top goaltending prospects in the NHL. With a goaltender partner in Dan Vladar right behind him, the Flames have established their future goalie duo. The priority in Calgary is clear: Long-range game.
Linus Ullmark for Joonas Korpisalo
Ottawa Senators: A
The Senators are coming off a very forgetful season that saw new owner Michael Andlauer moving on from previous general manager Pierre Dorion and hiring Steve Staios. Since then, Staios traded Vladimir Tarasenko to the Florida Panthers and has moved on from Korpisalo after just one season of his five-year, $20 million contract to get a Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender in Ullmark.
The craziest part of the trade is that the conditional first round pick they received from the Red Wings in the Alex DeBrincat trade is the same one they sent to the Bruins for Ullmark. From Ottawa’s standpoint, their looks to shore things up between the pipes has been seen annually, with more bad results than good. Ullmark has been consistently at above a .910 save percentage with the Sabres, and while he and the Bruins defense complemented one another, his Sabres years showed what he can do.
Retaining $1 million from Korpisalo’s cap hit while taking on Ullmark’s for one season leaves Ottawa with $11.3 million in cap space. He will become extension-eligible on July 1st, as he is in the final year of a four-year, $20 million contract he signed with the Bruins. Previously, Ullmark was a popular name at the deadline, though he used his no-trade clause to reject a trade to the Kings.
The work isn’t done for Ottawa. They have seven forwards under contract, meaning that they have to manage their cap space a lot, raising a lot of questions about whether Staios and co. could be inclined to make another trade to free up more cap space. Some have suggested Jakob Chychrun could be on the way out. Plus, while no agreement is in place for an extension with Ullmark, if the two sides agree on such, he’ll be the long-term starter, with Mads Sogaard being promoted to the team’s backup.
Boston Bruins: C+
Don Sweeney was forced into a tough situation. He had to choose between Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman to keep, as he could not keep both. He had no leverage, but this is a risky move for the reason that Korpisalo is coming off a brutal season with the Senators, with a 3.27 goals-against average and a career-worst .890 save percentage. The hope for the Bruins is that, behind a better defense, Korpisalo could put up similar numbers like the ones he did with the Kings in 2023, albeit in a backup role this time.
The biggest priority for the Bruins is re-signing Swayman, who is scheduled to be the full-time starter with them now. With Boston having almost $21.6 million in cap space after the Ullmark trade, Swayman is going to command north of $5 million per year, similar to Tristan Jarry with the Penguins last summer.
They’ll also get another gritty forward in Mark Kastelic. While he had five goals and five assists this past season, he accumulated 126 hits on the season and 331 in his career. He gives them more size while providing valuable bottom six depth. He’s signed through the upcoming season at an $835k cap hit and will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights. The rest of the Bruins’ cap space can be used to get top six help.
They will also get to do something that they haven’t done in a while: Draft in the first round. Assuming they keep the pick, this is the first time they picked on the opening day of the Entry Draft since 2021 when they picked Fabian Lysell. It’s cap neutral for both sides, and while the Bruins are taking a huge risk on Korpisalo, if he can find his stride behind their defensive core, the rewards can be nice.
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