Quote:
Originally Posted by Hustle and Flow
I think the bottom line is the Blues would like to have him back, but there are a lot of viable options out there so they arent going to bend over backwards for him. Armstrong might want to put his stamp on this team in his first offseason in charge, and could bring in his guy in Turco or go after a young goalie to make his own. Nabakov and Ellis are other guys who could be brought in if Mason is too expensive.
So between the vets (Turco, Nabby, and Ellis) or young guys available via trade (Price/Halak, Schneider, Harding, Bernier, etc.), I could see the Blues playing hardball with Mason.
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I don't see it that way. I think Mason is an average goalie but at the same time, he likely is (unfortunately) the best option for the Blues. Are Turco or Nabby really any better than Mason? They could very well cost more than Mason as well. All things considered, I'd take Mason over those two. I've never been too impressed with Ellis. Ellis is a good backup option IMO.
As for the young guys - I don't think they're nearly as much of an option as some think.
Schneider? He'll very likely be the Canucks backup next year. Besides, JD is already on record as saying that when they were interested in him, it wasn't as a starter, it was for his future. Even if the Blues did acquire Schnieder, there's no way they would risk just giving him the starter's role - this season is too important for that risky of a move. The ownership needs to make money and to do that, they need to make the playoffs. They're not going to put that much risk into a rookie goalie.
Bernier? He's not going anywhere. Not an option. People should stop mentioning his name. LA trading Bernier is about as likely as Boston trading Rask. There's absolutely no reason for them to do it. Cross him off your list. He'll likely play a good chunk of games in the NHL this season behind Quick but I don't think it'll be too long before he's the starter there. Perhaps Quick might be an option a year or so from now.
Harding? He's injured and will be coming back from surgery. It's very doubtful any team would want to trade for him until he can prove his hip is ok after returning to the lineup. Also, he's Minny's backup and they don't really have much of a reason to trade him nor do they really have anyone else to be Backstrom's backup already in their system. Only if Harding really plays hardball as he's a RFA this summer would the Wild even consider trading him at this point in time (while his trade value is low since he's injured). Of all of the options, he would be ok IMO as he would likely be a decent option to platoon with Conks but I don't see him leaving Minny quite yet.
Halak? He's going nowhere. No way MTL lets him go after the playoffs he just had.
Price? He'll likely get traded...although I'm hearing that now perhaps both Halak and Price are more comfortable with the idea of both of them returning to MTL. We'll see how that one shakes out. Perhaps the Blues have already inquired about Price and either aren't that interested in his services or aren't willing to part with what MTL would want in return.
Quite simply, I don't think the goalie market looks as good as some make it out to be. I wish there was a better option out there but I think that Mason is likely the Blues best option at this point in time.
