In yesterday's Ramblings, I wrote about goalies and their current valuations. Today I'm going to write about…

… goalies again! The anticipated goaltending musical chairs began on Saturday morning, with several signings to break down.

Robin Lehner, 5 years, $25 million, Vegas

This turned out to be the worst-kept secret of the playoffs. Originally reported during the playoffs, the Golden Knights have decided to make Lehner their starter going forward. Lehner is no doubt happy to finally receive security after signing three consecutive one-year "prove it" contracts, all with different teams. His strong play during the postseason (16 GP, 1.99 GAA, .917 SV%, 4 SO) cemented the deal for him.

If they haven't been already, the Golden Knights will be shopping Marc-Andre Fleury hard. Currently #5 on the latest TSN Trade Bait board, Flower has two more years at $7 million. Fleury had a difficult season (.905 SV%, 6.50 GSAA), but he would likely upgrade the goaltending of at least a few teams. He has played for mostly strong teams throughout his career, so it would be interesting to see what would happen if he went to a team like Ottawa or Detroit. Remember that a buyout is another possibility if Vegas can't trade him.

By popular demand, here is what a Marc-Andre Fleury buyout would look like:

Yr 1: $2.58M Cap Hit ($4.4M savings)
Yr 2: $3.08M Cap Hit ($3.9M savings)
Yr 3/4: $2.08M Cap Hit/Costhttps://t.co/CDC6ioUBvQ pic.twitter.com/FkEG5N3QlU

— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) October 3, 2020

Back to Lehner. Yesterday I mentioned that I would wait to move him up the Top 100 Roto Rankings. I'm willing to give him a small boost with this signing. There's potential top-5 goalie value with Lehner, particularly if Fleury leaves. If Fleury stuck around, he would likely cut into Lehner's workload and could even force a 50-50 if Lehner were to struggle. Lehner is used to that arrangement from his time with the Islanders, Blackhawks, and Golden Knights (during the regular season).

Interestingly enough, Lehner's two highest games-played totals are both with the Sabres in 2016-17 (59 GP) and 2017-18 (53 GP), which was before his career took off. So should Fleury leave, Lehner would be given a larger workload than he has over the past two seasons. The playoffs gave us a small sample that he has a good chance of being able to handle 50+ games over a season, though.

The $5 million cap hit for Lehner should mean that the bulk of free agent goalies (except for Jacob Markstrom) should sign for under $5 million. Crazy, unpredictable things happen on the first day of free agency, though.

Tristan Jarry, 3 years, $10.5 million, Pittsburgh

The Penguins have made their goaltending decision, and it shouldn't be that much of a surprise. Jarry's contract comes with a reasonable cap hit ($3.5 million) that gives the Penguins more room to load up for the final years of the Crosby/Malkin core. It also means that Jim Rutherford will continue to offer Matt Murray (#4 on the TSN Trade Bait board) to a team looking to go in a different direction with its goaltending. The cap hits on both the Lehner and Jarry contracts probably puts more teams in the mix for Murray. Cap-wise, the Penguins probably aren't going to be able to retain Murray unless additional moves are made.

Although Jarry was the superior Penguins goalie last season (2.43 GAA, .921 SV% compared to 2.87 GAA, .899 SV% for Murray), there is some risk for the Penguins. Jarry has played only 62 career games, plus he doesn't have the postseason track record that Murray has with two Stanley Cups. Yet he appears to be a solid option anyway. Among the 52 goalies that played in at least 25 games last season, Jarry finished 11^th with a 57.6 QS% (quality start percentage) and 12^th with 11.07 GSAA (goals saved above average).

Murray's career numbers (regular season): 199 GP, 2.67 GAA, .914 SV%, 11 SO

Murray's career numbers (playoffs): 51 GP, 2.18 GAA, .921 SV%, 6 SO

Part of the issue with Murray has been injuries. After signing his three-year contract starting in 2017-18, Murray has only played 50 games once. Even with the playoff track record, a team would be wise not to overpay. Using the same comparables for Murray as for Jarry (52 goalies who played at least 25 games), Murray finished seventh worst in both quality start percentage (42.1%) and goals saved above average (-11.60 GSAA). If he is acquired by a team inferior to the Penguins, he might not be a goalie that you want to target.  

Assuming Murray is traded, Casey DeSmith would move back up to the Penguins to be Jarry's backup.

A little detour here, because I thought this was kind of interesting:

Jim Rutherford, this evening, on training camps potentially opening on Nov. 15: https://t.co/ovQsECG1kf pic.twitter.com/c5t5iNnHsg

— Seth Rorabaugh (@SethRorabaugh) October 3, 2020

If there's any truth to this, then the NHL season could start December 1. That would mean fantasy drafts would take place in November. I think a season start is more likely January, but who knows.

Brian Elliott, 1 year, $1.5 million, Philadelphia

Elliott is now off the market for teams looking for a veteran backup. With Carter Hart set as the starter in Philly, Elliott's role will be predictable. If the season is a full 82 games, expect him to play about 30 games, possibly more if Hart is injured or has any extended struggles. Elliott struggled himself in 2019-20 (45.2 QS%, -8.02 GSAA) The Flyers weren't going to sign anyone to seriously challenge Hart for starts anyway, though. Status quo here.

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The Coyotes have placed Michael Grabner on waivers for the purpose of a buyout. His contract had one year left with a cap hit of $3.35 million. The speedy forward scored eight goals and just three assists in 46 games for the Coyotes. The 32-year-old Grabner scored 27 goals in each of 2016-17 and 2017-18, so he may find his way onto another club at a reduced salary.

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The Journey writer Dave Hall has just released his 2020 Mock Draft, and it's yours to check out for free! Remember that this is a mock draft, so don't give him too much grief about it. The mock draft is for the entire first round, so you know that he's put a lot of work into it. Oh, and it probably isn’t the same as yours.

If you need to go even more in-depth than that, might I suggest that you purchase a copy of the Fantasy Prospects Report, if you haven't already. There's oodles of prospect coverage in there.

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On Friday, don't forget to be at Dobber Hockey for Free Agent Frenzy, which starts this coming Friday at noon ET. We'll be providing Fantasy Takes throughout the day and probably into the evening. Don't worry if you have other plans that day, though. The articles will be here. With a long offseason expected, we'll have plenty of time to break down the signings and what they mean for your fantasy teams.

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For more fantasy hockey discussion, or to reach out to me, you can follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding.