Should the Wings try to sign Lehner July 1st?

[chaps80 1,591]

https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/blackhawks/ct-chicago-blackhawks-robin-lehner-dylan-strome-20200110-3w76rxw3znat5nz7yuzqnb5sou-story.html

If the Blackhawks expect goaltender Robin Lehner to give them a discount in a contract extension because he likes playing in Chicago, they better guess again.

After an optional practice Friday at Fifth Third Arena, Lehner reiterated how much he enjoys being a Hawk and would like to be part of their future.

But he also made it clear he won’t sell himself short like he feels he did last summer, when he signed a one-year, $5 million deal with the Hawks after being a Vezina Trophy finalist with the Islanders.

“I’ve taken discounts my whole life,” Lehner said. “I’m not a guy that wants to be overpaid either. I want to gain some respect that I think I deserve, and we’ll see if that happens or not.”

While Lehner said he is open to signing an extension with the Hawks before free agency begins in July, he seems to have done his research on the impending market for goalies.

 

“The market is wide open,” Lehner said. "There’s a lot of teams that need goalies. It’s not that many goalies that are available this (summer). So we’ll see what happens. All I know is I really like it here. I’ve learned enough.

 

“(But) this is a business, and no matter how good things are going, how well you like it, sometimes it’s not up to you and it’s not in your control. But I know where I stand and I really like this team and I still really believe in this team and the pieces this team has. Would like to be a part of the turnaround.”

 

Crawford has also said previously if he does re-sign with Chicago after this season, he "doesn't want to be anyone's backup". Depending on which direction they decide to go, it seems one of the two will be traded at the deadline or available July 1st. I figure they will keep both past the deadline. I'm not interested in Crawford whatsoever, but Lehner would give this team a lot of stability in goal while the rebuild continues. That's IF he's willing to jump into a rebuild situation. I think he could be signed for $6 million per for a few seasons. With Howard gone, there is plenty of money to do it. What do you all think? Yay? Nay?

[xault 272]

meh

[Wings3:16 318]

I don't think so....seems like he wants someone to overpay this summer...

[The 91 of Ryans 3,014]

In the old days this thread would get merged. 

[nyqvististhefuture 1,002]

Nothings gonna change with our goaltending unless our d gets better as a whole but id go for lehner but nothing past 2-3 years 

[Neomaxizoomdweebie 3,083]

No

[krsmith17 7,191]

If we could get him short-term for cheap, sure. We won't be able to, so no...

Assuming no team overpays for Bernier at the deadline, he will likely be our starter going into next season. Howard will likely retire, and I don't trust Pickard as a backup. We'll need to sign a cheap UFA to backup Bernier, or make a trade...

[marcaractac 3,962]

If the price is right, hell yeah. Would be a lovely tandem next season.

[chaps80 1,591]

4 hours ago, Wings3:16 said:

I don't think so....seems like he wants someone to overpay this summer...

Every player wants someone to overpay them. lol 

$6 million for three/four years would be fine. 

38 minutes ago, krsmith17 said:

If we could get him short-term for cheap, sure. We won't be able to, so no...

Assuming no team overpays for Bernier at the deadline, he will likely be our starter going into next season. Howard will likely retire, and I don't trust Pickard as a backup. We'll need to sign a cheap UFA to backup Bernier, or make a trade...

No, it wouldn't be cheap or short term. And even if Stevie did want to sign him, he probably wouldn't want to be on a rebuilding team in his prime years, but things do happen.

That goalie outlook is terrifying. Bernier is a backup forced into a starter's role and Pickard is an AHL starter at best. Def gotta sign somebody with Howard retiring or moving on. 

[kipwinger 8,520]

I'd look to any of the 35 year old guys.  Crawford, Greiss, Elliott, or Halak.  If you're shopping in the UFA market you're always going to be  overpaying, so at least do it on a short term deal.  All of those are having decent seasons, which is all we'd really need them to have for us.  The under 35 crowd is all going to want more term than we should be giving out.  Best of the bunch are Holtby and Markstrom and I wouldn't want to pay either of them what they're going to want (and on the term that they'll want) either. 

Edited February 7, 2020 by kipwinger

[nyqvististhefuture 1,002]

13 minutes ago, kipwinger said:

I'd look to any of the 35 year old guys.  Crawford, Greiss, Elliott, or Halak.  If you're shopping in the UFA market you're always going to be  overpaying, so at least do it on a short term deal.  All of those are having decent seasons, which is all we'd really need them to have for us.  The under 35 crowd is all going to want more term than we should be giving out.  Best of the bunch are Holtby and Markstrom and I wouldn't want to pay either of them what they're going to want (and on the term that they'll want) either. 

Ya forget holtby and markstrom on a longterm deal , doubt lehner takes a short deal ... my pick would be griess x1 or x2 ... added bonus seider gets an older german brother on the team to banter with

Edited February 7, 2020 by nyqvististhefuture

[Wings3:16 318]

29 minutes ago, chaps80 said:

Every player wants someone to overpay them. lol 

$6 million for three/four years would be fine. 

Touche, haha - perhaps I should rephrase - I think someone will overpay him this summer, much more than 6

[chaps80 1,591]

53 minutes ago, kipwinger said:

I'd look to any of the 35 year old guys.  Crawford, Greiss, Elliott, or Halak.  If you're shopping in the UFA market you're always going to be  overpaying, so at least do it on a short term deal.  All of those are having decent seasons, which is all we'd really need them to have for us.  The under 35 crowd is all going to want more term than we should be giving out.  Best of the bunch are Holtby and Markstrom and I wouldn't want to pay either of them what they're going to want (and on the term that they'll want) either. 

Yeah, I wouldn't mind any of those four, but i'd go with Greiss or Halak. Elliott and Crawford have injury histories, and that's all we need. By the way Crawford is talking, it's him or Lehner in Chicago. And if it's not him, does he really want to finish his career with a rebuilding team? He's already accomplished a lot. I see him retiring as a Hawk if they decide not to re-sign him. 

Holtby and Markstrom i'd think will be re-signed by their teams.

40 minutes ago, Wings3:16 said:

Touche, haha - perhaps I should rephrase - I think someone will overpay him this summer, much more than 6

Yes, most likely. He already thinks he sold himself short at $5 million on a one year deal after being a Vezina finalist. I wouldn't say he did by much. He's not worth $7 million+ or anything, that's for sure. But he could find it.

Edited February 7, 2020 by chaps80

[marcaractac 3,962]

17 minutes ago, chaps80 said:

Yeah, I wouldn't mind any of those four, but i'd go with Greiss or Halak. Elliott and Crawford have injury histories, and that's all we need. By the way Crawford is talking, it's him or Lehner in Chicago. And if it's not him, does he really want to finish his career with a rebuilding team? He's already accomplished a lot. I see him retiring as a Hawk if they decide not to re-sign him. 

Holtby and Markstrom i'd think will be re-signed by their teams.

Yes, most likely. He already thinks he sold himself short at $5 million on a one year deal after being a Vezina finalist. I wouldn't say he did by much. He's not worth $7 million+ or anything, that's for sure. But he could find it.

There is no chance Holtby stays in Washington. They have no money for him. Of course, I also hope Yzerman steers clear of him. 

[chaps80 1,591]

17 minutes ago, marcaractac said:

There is no chance Holtby stays in Washington. They have no money for him. Of course, I also hope Yzerman steers clear of him. 

Wow, I haven't looked at Holtby's stats in awhile. 3.11 GAA  0.896 SV% on the season. Didn't think he was playing that bad compared to Samsonov, who has a 2.21 GAA and 0.923 SV%. If they can't afford him then ya, he's good as gone. Washington has a knack for developing great goalies. Traded Grubauer and didn't miss him at all. Holtby i always felt was a bit overrated, but he got the job done most of the time.

Agreed, Stevie needs to stay clear of him. He's probably another goalie who wouldn't sign in Detroit anyways. 

[amato 3,210]

Lehner is a goalie I'd be okay having but wouldn't be thrilled that we signed. He'd be a solid stopgap imo.

So would Aaron Dell, as far as UFAs go this year.. if he were to leave the sharks.   

 

I'm not sure what the best route would be to avoid it, or if we even should bother trying to avoid it at this awful point in our franchise history, but I REALLY don't want another year of Howard or Bernier being our starting goalie. 

[chaps80 1,591]

26 minutes ago, amato said:

I REALLY don't want another year of Howard or Bernier being our starting goalie. 

I don't think many do. Howard looks like he's finished. He's been absolutely horrendous this season. Bernier is a backup forced into the starting job due to Howard's play. He wasn't signed to take on that role, but he's doing a good job all things considered. Looking outside the org this summer for a starter or someone to tandem with Bernier is unavoidable. 

[ChristopherReevesLegs 7,022]

Ask yourself this: Is Chicago really gonna choose Crawford over Lehner?

Lehner: 2.83 GAA, 0.923 sv%, turns 29 in July
Crawford: 2.91 GAA, 0.912 sv%, turns 36 in December

If Crawford is demanding to be a #1 somewhere it won't be with Chicago next year. Stan Bowman isn't dumb enough to choose the aging goalie with worse numbers to be his starter.

Like Markstrom, I totally view Lehner as being basically off the table already. He'll likely get paid by Chicago like he wants. His play deserves it like he says.

Greiss, Halak, Khudobin, or Crawford could be short term solutions for us, but all 3 will be 34/35 when we sign them, and then we will just be hunting for another goalie the next season. That's a carousel we don't need to start spinning. We need a legit starter, not a 1 year backup fill-in.

Younger options: Holtby, Talbot, Dell, Francouz

Holtby: His numbers have really gone down the pooper, I have no interest in risking term on him.
Talbot: At 33 he's dangerously close to being over the hill already and has never been a great starter anyway.
Dell: This guy piques my interest. At 30 he's never had a chance to be a legit starter despite having some respectable numbers. He had one down season last year, but has bounced back again to his former self this year. Can this guy handle a full work load is my only question.
Francouz: I have serious interest in this guy. A 30 year old undrafted former KHLer, he only has 22 NHL games played, but he's sitting on respectable numbers at 2.42 GAA and 0.925 sv%. Colorado can afford to keep him if they want is the only trouble, so it could be another Lehner situation where he's already off the market. Despite this they've played Grubauer more than him despite Grubes having worse numbers and they have Grubauer locked up for next year already. I'm hoping this guy makes it to the market.

[krsmith17 7,191]

5 hours ago, ChristopherReevesLegs said:

Ask yourself this: Is Chicago really gonna choose Crawford over Lehner?

Lehner: 2.83 GAA, 0.923 sv%, turns 29 in July
Crawford: 2.91 GAA, 0.912 sv%, turns 36 in December

If Crawford is demanding to be a #1 somewhere it won't be with Chicago next year. Stan Bowman isn't dumb enough to choose the aging goalie with worse numbers to be his starter.

Like Markstrom, I totally view Lehner as being basically off the table already. He'll likely get paid by Chicago like he wants. His play deserves it like he says.

Greiss, Halak, Khudobin, or Crawford could be short term solutions for us, but all 3 will be 34/35 when we sign them, and then we will just be hunting for another goalie the next season. That's a carousel we don't need to start spinning. We need a legit starter, not a 1 year backup fill-in.

Younger options: Holtby, Talbot, Dell, Francouz

Holtby: His numbers have really gone down the pooper, I have no interest in risking term on him.
Talbot: At 33 he's dangerously close to being over the hill already and has never been a great starter anyway.
Dell: This guy piques my interest. At 30 he's never had a chance to be a legit starter despite having some respectable numbers. He had one down season last year, but has bounced back again to his former self this year. Can this guy handle a full work load is my only question.
Francouz: I have serious interest in this guy. A 30 year old undrafted former KHLer, he only has 22 NHL games played, but he's sitting on respectable numbers at 2.42 GAA and 0.925 sv%. Colorado can afford to keep him if they want is the only trouble, so it could be another Lehner situation where he's already off the market. Despite this they've played Grubauer more than him despite Grubes having worse numbers and they have Grubauer locked up for next year already. I'm hoping this guy makes it to the market.

No chance Francouz will be available. The Aves have more cap space than any team in the league. There's no reason for them not to come back with one of the better tandems in the league again next season.

I think our best option is to trade for a youngish goaltender.

[ChristopherReevesLegs 7,022]

8 hours ago, krsmith17 said:

No chance Francouz will be available. The Aves have more cap space than any team in the league. There's no reason for them not to come back with one of the better tandems in the league again next season.

Thats why i said he may already be off the market...

8 hours ago, krsmith17 said:

I think our best option is to trade for a youngish goaltender.

Are you talking about Yaroslav Askarov or Eric Comrie?

[chaps80 1,591]

The Rangers have a logjam in goal right now with three capable starters and will eventually want to trade one of their two young Russians, most likely Georgiev. It's an option.

https://www.blueshirtbanter.com/2020/1/7/21054703/the-rangers-three-goalie-situation-wont-be-tolerable-for-long-shesterkin-lundqvist-georgiev

https://www.nhl.com/player/alexandar-georgiev-8480382?season=20192020

[ChristopherReevesLegs 7,022]

5 minutes ago, chaps80 said:

The Rangers have a logjam in goal right now with three capable starters and will eventually want to trade one of their two young Russians, most likely Georgiev. It's an option.

https://www.blueshirtbanter.com/2020/1/7/21054703/the-rangers-three-goalie-situation-wont-be-tolerable-for-long-shesterkin-lundqvist-georgiev

https://www.nhl.com/player/alexandar-georgiev-8480382?season=20192020

If the Rags are smart they will re-sign Georgiev to a cheap bridge which they can probably get since he has less than a full season under his belt. Then Lundqvist retires after next season and then they have Shesterkin and Georgiev. I don't think he's on the table as much as many seem to believe.

[chaps80 1,591]

On 2/9/2020 at 12:07 AM, ChristopherReevesLegs said:

If the Rags are smart they will re-sign Georgiev to a cheap bridge which they can probably get since he has less than a full season under his belt. Then Lundqvist retires after next season and then they have Shesterkin and Georgiev. I don't think he's on the table as much as many seem to believe.

Ya, he may be. Lundqvist is still playing pretty damn well, but lets face it, he will move on sooner than later. Not sure they'd hold onto Georgiev if there trade offers they couldn't refuse. They're looking for one guy to take the Number one spot after King. The other will be moved, because it could create a toxic situation over everything from playing time to contracts.  Shesterkin seems to be their guy, so trade Georgiev. He should fetch a decent return. They are stuck with three goalies on the roster now, and that can't last long. GET ON THE HORN STEVIEEEE.

[LeftWinger 4,951]

No...Not at $5M or above.   Not on our rebuilding team. We are going to a lottery team again next season, I don't want to see UFA signing here making too much money on this rebuild, cap space or not. I'd rather go with Bernier and and young goalie.  If we need to get above cap floor, I wouldn't mind seeing us acquire some vet contracts along with picks/prospects to give a Cup team some cap relief though! (it's time to be greedy!)

Make Hockeytown Great Again!

...and signing Lehner to an over inflated contract to watch yet another season like this? No Thanks!

Even if Bernier gets traded, I'd rather go young and get an aging Vet to a lower contract to be the tandem.

*Edit: an aging vet NOT named Jimmy Howard....I'd go with Ryan Miller before going back to Howard. Our focus should be on developing one of our young goalies anyhow, so any 32+ goalie should be pretty happy with some cash and some 1a/1b playing time.

Edited February 11, 2020 by LeftWinger

[chaps80 1,591]

On 2/11/2020 at 9:02 AM, LeftWinger said:

No...Not at $5M or above.   Not on our rebuilding team. We are going to a lottery team again next season, I don't want to see UFA signing here making too much money on this rebuild, cap space or not. I'd rather go with Bernier and and young goalie.  If we need to get above cap floor, I wouldn't mind seeing us acquire some vet contracts along with picks/prospects to give a Cup team some cap relief though! (it's time to be greedy!)

Make Hockeytown Great Again!

...and signing Lehner to an over inflated contract to watch yet another season like this? No Thanks!

Even if Bernier gets traded, I'd rather go young and get an aging Vet to a lower contract to be the tandem.

*Edit: an aging vet NOT named Jimmy Howard....I'd go with Ryan Miller before going back to Howard. Our focus should be on developing one of our young goalies anyhow, so any 32+ goalie should be pretty happy with some cash and some 1a/1b playing time.

Lehner probably isn't interested in joining a rebuilding team in his prime anyways, but $6 million i'd be fine with. I don't see teams being interested in Bernier with another year left at $3 million on his contract. If he continues to play well on this dumpster fire of a team next year i could see a team making a deadline deal for him. Getting Halak or Greiss like someone suggested to tandem with him next season would be a good move. I agree Howard has to go, whether he tries to land a contract in UFA and make a last ditch pine ride to the playoffs or retires. I don't see Yzerman offering him another year, even at a drastic salary reduction. The way Howard showed up to camp overweight and plays like he could care less also makes me think he's just looking to get this season over and leave as well.