Fantasy Take: Backup Goalie Signings

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.