Fantasy Take: Backup Goalie Signings

Ian Gooding

2021-07-28

The following backup goalies were signed on July 28, the first day of free agency:

Martin Jones: 1 year, $2 million, Philadelphia

David Rittich: 1 year, $1.25 million, Nashville

James Reimer: 2 years, $2.25 million, San Jose

Carter Hutton: 1 year, $750,000, Arizona

Laurent Brossoit: 2 years, $2.325 million, Vegas

Braden Holtby: 1 year, $2 million, Dallas

Brian Elliott: 1 year, $900,000, Tampa Bay

Just scanning through this list, all of these goalies are projected to be backups (or at best timeshare options) for their teams, so the fantasy takes on each won't be deep dives. Yet it's possible that any of these goalies are waiver-wire options for fantasy leagues due to injury to the starter, poor play from the starter (likelihood to vary by team), or even for streaming purposes.

If you need volume of starts, your best option might be Reimer. The Sharks have completely renovated their goaltending, buying out Jones and bringing in Adin Hill and Reimer. Hill's contract (currently an RFA) might be telling as to where he stands compared to the veteran Reimer, but San Jose's situation is already looking like a timeshare.

The most interesting goalie situation might be in Dallas. The Stars now have all of Holtby, Ben Bishop, Anton Khudobin, and Jake Oettinger in the fold. Reading between the lines, the Holtby signing probably means that Bishop is still not injury-free and could even need to be on LTIR. Maybe Khudobin is on the trade block as well? Maybe Oettinger is ready to be the starter, with Holtby as the backup.

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If you're looking at possible injury to the starter, don't discount Brossoit in Vegas. The Golden Knights no longer have the luxury of Marc-Andre Fleury if Robin Lehner is injured again. Although he has never played more than 21 games in a season, Brossoit is at worst a solid streaming option. Lehner owners in deeper leagues could also consider Brossoit as a handcuff.

Andrei Vasilevskiy owners probably shouldn't worry about adding Elliott. However, Elliott is still worth a stream if needed for a W, particularly whenever the Lightning have a favorable matchup.

Hutton should be the backup in Arizona. The question is, will he be backing up Darcy Kuemper? The Coyotes starter remains on the trade block. Now that Philipp Grubauer has signed in Seattle, Kuemper is one option the Avalanche could consider. (UPDATE: Kuemper has been traded to Colorado. Hutton should be competing for starts with Ivan Prosvetov and Josef Korenar.)

Carter Hart came off a terrible season, where Elliott played more than he probably should have. If Hart's struggles continue into this coming season, then Jones will be in demand in fantasy leagues. Jones had a decent run as a backup in LA before becoming the full-time goalie in San Jose, so he might be better suited for the backup role.  

Between subpar play in 2020-21 and moving to a team with a firm starter (Juuse Saros) that could be a bubble playoff team at best, David Rittich probably shouldn't be high on anyone's goalie rankings.  

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