Recently, the NHL Network’s Kevin Weekes reported that Tampa Bay Lightning star goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy will be out 8-10 weeks after having back surgery. While this news is a bit surprising, it is known that Vasilevskiy has not seen much action in training camp, and head coach Jon Cooper told the media on Sunday (Sept. 24) that the former Vezina trophy winner was “day-to-day” but did not specify what the injury is and when he would return.
At the end of last season, Vasilevskiy explained in his exit interview that from games 30 to 35 in the regular season, he didn’t feel that his mind and body were in sync, and some “small injuries came out at the same time.” At the beginning of training camp, he stated that he used the offseason to recover, focusing on getting a mental break from hockey by spending time with his family and going back home to visit his cat.
With the confirmation from the Lightning that the 29-year-old did undergo a successful microdiscectomy this morning to address a lumbar disc herniation, and will miss the first two months of the season. The Lightning now have some decisions to make concerning who will be in net while Vasilevskiy is recuperating.
Internal Options
The Lightning originally signed Jonas Johansson to be Vasilevskiy’s backup for this season and will likely have the first crack of the goaltenders in the organization to be the starting netminder. The problem here is that the 28-year-old has played just 35 career NHL games with the Buffalo Sabres, Florida Panthers, and Colorado Avalanche. While he does not have much NHL experience, there are things about his game that impressed Lightning goaltender coach Frantz Jean. “He’s got really good feet, and that’s one thing that I always look at at a goaltender and as an organization. There’s not that many [6-foot-5] guys around playing in the minors. So, that was attractive to us.”
Last season, Johansson stopped 68 of 73 shots, .932 save percentage (SV%) in two starts (2-0-0) with the Avalanche after posting a 2.33 GAA and a .920 SV% in 26 American Hockey League (AHL) games last season. The other two options in the organization, Hugo Alnefelt and Matt Tomkins, have almost no NHL experience and will likely compete to be the backup if the Lightning decide to go with Johansson. Tomkins is a bit of a wild card, though, as he does have two successful seasons playing in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) and looked very good in the Lightning’s most recent exhibition game against the Nashville Predators.
Available Free Agents
With the injury coming so close to the start of the regular season, there are few options left for a team that also has salary cap issues. One candidate could be Jaroslav Halak, who played in 25 games for the New York Rangers last season as Igor Shesterkin’s backup. The 38-year-old had a 10-9-1 record in 2022-23 with a 2.73 goals against average (GAA). Other unrestricted free-agent goaltenders with some NHL experience who are still unsigned include Aaron Dell, Michael Hutchinson, and the Lightning’s previous backup, Brian Elliot. If that happens, a player will have to be waived in order to make cap space available for this signing.
Around the same time the news on Vasilevskiy was released, the Vancouver Canucks waived goaltender Spencer Martin. The 28-year-old appeared in 29 games for the Canucks last season, posting a record of 11-15-1 with a 3.99 GAA and a .871 SV%. Martin also appeared in 16 games for the team’s AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks. Martin was slated to be the backup until the Canucks acquired Casey DeSmith from the Montreal Canadiens in a deal for forward Tanner Pearson.
Trading for a Goaltender
A team that has no room on the salary cap will likely need to make a trade in order to add a goaltender from outside of the organization in order to fit that player into the cap. The question then becomes, what player would the Lightning want to make available, and what can they get in return? The likely answer is that they may have to give up a player who skates on the bottom groupings of either the forward or defensive units. This may only give them a player with limited NHL experience, but could prove to be productive if given the opportunity.
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There are teams that have some good goaltending depth in their organization that might be willing to make a deal for a player in the mold of Johansson, as they have some good AHL numbers but are blocked by the outstanding talent in front of them. The Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, and Arizona Coyotes have all been ranked as teams with good goaltending depth in the Western Conference. There are teams in the Eastern Conference that also have good goaltending, but the thought is that many of them would not want to make a deal to help the Lightning. If a team like the Buffalo Sabres would make a trade with the Lightning, Eric Comrie may be a good fit as he appears to be the odd-man out in that goaltending group.
The loss of Vasilevskiy is a huge blow to a team that had hopes of using their longer-than-usual offseason to make another run at a Stanley Cup title. Now, the team is forced to look at options to replace their All-Star goaltender for at least two months in the hopes that they will not lose too much ground to other playoff contenders until he returns.
