This article is part of our Crashing the Crease series.
The NHL trade deadline passed at 3PM ET on Wednesday, but not before multiple goaltenders changed teams. Here are the biggest winners and losers from this past week's flurry of moves:
Sunday's Ben Bishop for Peter Budaj trade between Tampa Bay and Los Angeles was a rare lose-lose proposition for both netminders. Bishop had been seeing the majority of action in net for the Lightning, but is now projected to serve as the backup to Jonathan Quick, who finally returned from a long-term groin injury Saturday. Quick has gone 1-0-1 for a Kings team trying to claw its way into the playoffs, and blocks Bishop as long as he doesn't suffer a setback. The real winner of this deal is Andrei Vasilevskiy. Tampa Bay made this deal to get assets for a player that was going to leave in free agency while simultaneously paving the way for the 22-year-old Russian to finally assume the starting role for good after signing a three-year extension this past offseason. While Budaj greatly exceeded expectations in Quick's absence, his new team will have no qualms with turning its goalie of the future into the starter of the present over a 34-year-old who had just one NHL appearance in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons combined.
Career AHLer Joe Cannata is now Colorado's property after being traded by the Capitals on Wednesday. The 2009 sixth-rounder doesn't have an NHL appearance to his name, and is unlikely to get one this season even with the
The NHL trade deadline passed at 3PM ET on Wednesday, but not before multiple goaltenders changed teams. Here are the biggest winners and losers from this past week's flurry of moves:
Sunday's Ben Bishop for Peter Budaj trade between Tampa Bay and Los Angeles was a rare lose-lose proposition for both netminders. Bishop had been seeing the majority of action in net for the Lightning, but is now projected to serve as the backup to Jonathan Quick, who finally returned from a long-term groin injury Saturday. Quick has gone 1-0-1 for a Kings team trying to claw its way into the playoffs, and blocks Bishop as long as he doesn't suffer a setback. The real winner of this deal is Andrei Vasilevskiy. Tampa Bay made this deal to get assets for a player that was going to leave in free agency while simultaneously paving the way for the 22-year-old Russian to finally assume the starting role for good after signing a three-year extension this past offseason. While Budaj greatly exceeded expectations in Quick's absence, his new team will have no qualms with turning its goalie of the future into the starter of the present over a 34-year-old who had just one NHL appearance in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons combined.
Career AHLer Joe Cannata is now Colorado's property after being traded by the Capitals on Wednesday. The 2009 sixth-rounder doesn't have an NHL appearance to his name, and is unlikely to get one this season even with the Avalanche's struggles in net. At least Cannata won't be stuck behind Braden Holtby if he does get called up at some point. The Lightning and Panthers also swapped AHL netminders Wednesday, with 24-year-old Adam Wilcox going from AHL Syracuse (Lightning) to AHL Springfield (Panthers) and 33-year-old Mike McKenna headed the other way. Wilcox hasn't appeared in an NHL game after being taken in the sixth round of the 2011 draft while McKenna's last NHL action came on Feb. 16, 2015 as a member of the Coyotes.
Some goaltenders also saw their stock shift without altering locations thanks to the arrival or departure of important defensemen. The Rangers acquired a quality defender in Brendan Smith from Detroit on Tuesday, but the bigger boon to Henrik Lundqvist's short-term value could be Dan Girardi's (ankle) absence given the veteran's abysmal possession numbers. While Kevin Shattenkirk improves an already stacked Capitals team, his poor play in the defensive zone should give the former Blues blueliner a net neutral effect on Holtby. Ron Hainsey and Johnny Oduya will provide veteran experience on the Pittsburgh and Chicago blue lines, respectively, but don't move the needle much for any of the four teams involved in those two trades. If your team's move for a bottom-pairing defender didn't make this section, it's probably because their presence isn't going to have the life-altering effect you're hoping for.
Now that we've covered what to expect in the future from these trades, let's take a look at the recent past with the top performers, three rising and three falling.
Top Performers
Brian Elliott, CGY - Calgary's Feb. 20 acquisition of blueliner Michael Stone from the Coyotes came a few days before the scope of the above analysis, but it's already paying dividends for Eliott. The former St. Louis netminder is 4-0-0 with a 2.23 GAA and .923 save percentage since the move, and finished the month of February 7-1-1 with a 2.24 GAA and .922 save percentage overall. Elliott has clearly separated himself from Chad Johnson at this point, and could rank among the top performers at his position as the Flames look to secure a playoff berth down the stretch.
Braden Holtby, WAS - Holtby could realistically make this section every week considering he has gone 21 starts without a regulation loss. This past week was especially impressive, though, as he held the Flyers, Oilers and Rangers to one goal apiece in three consecutive wins. There's a two-horse race for the Vezina between Devan Dubnyk (34 wins, 2.05 GAA, .932 save percentage) and Holtby (32 wins, 1.95 GAA, .929 save percentage).
Martin Jones, SAN - Tuesday's 3-1 win over the Maple Leafs solidified a second straight 30-win campaign for Jones while capping an easy-going week that saw him go 2-0-0 with a 1.00 GAA and .965 save percentage. The strong Sharks team around him has allowed Jones to rank fifth in wins (30) and eighth in GAA (2.28) despite sitting 17th with a .915 save percentage. He'll be tested in the near future, as San Jose's' next five opponents after Thursday's meeting with the Canucks all rank in the top 12 offensively.
Three Rising
Carey Price, MTL - Price has reestablished his incredible early-season form over his past four starts, going 3-1-0 with a 1.45 GAA and .947 save percentage despite facing four top-10 offenses in that span. That shift is a welcome sight for Price owners considering he had won just six of his previous 20 starts.
Andrei Vasilevskiy, TAM - Further proof that Budaj wasn't brought in to be the starter: Vasilevskiy got the nod in Tampa Bay's first game since the deal and will once again man the crease Wednesday night. That first appearances was a 39-save beauty in Monday's 5-1 win over the Senators, suggesting Vasilevskiy is ready to run with the role. His increased workload makes the 2012 first-rounder worth a pickup, but you might want to wait to activate him with the Penguins, Rangers and Wild among the Lightning's next five opponents.
Tuukka Rask, BOS - Rask has allowed just 12 total goals in winning five of his past six starts. That productive stretch represents a marked turnaround from the preceding five starts, which saw him surrender at least three goals in each contest for a total of 18. Much like Jones in San Jose, Rask has been an excellent source of wins (30) and GAA (2.27) despite a lackluster save percentage (.913).
Three Falling
Michal Neuvirth, PHI - Neuvirth posted identical lines in his two appearances over the past week, allowing four goals on 29 shots in losses to both the high-powered Capitals and Penguins. He then sat and watched as Steve Mason shut out the league-worst Avalanche on Tuesday. The Czech had started nine of Philadelphia's past 10 games coming into that appearance by Mason, but he hasn't exactly earned that playing time with a 2.90 GAA and .897 save percentage in 24 appearances this season. Neuvirth's long-term outlook also took a hit Wednesday when he signed a two-year extension with the defensively-challenged Flyers.
Devan Dubnyk, MIN - Dubnyk sandwiched five days off with four-goals-allowed performances against the Blackhawks and Kings, though he did manage to pad his league-leading win total with a seven-save relief victory over the Jets on Tuesday. Two wins with a 3.76 GAA and .893 save percentage isn't a terrible three-start stretch for a lot of goalies, but represents a major decline in form for the presumed Vezina frontrunner heading into the week. Dubnyk has looked much more human in allowing at least four goals in seven of his past 21 appearances after holding his first 27 opponents short of that mark.
Mike Smith, ARI - With Smith struggling and Elliott excelling, maybe Stone was really more important than anyone could've imagined. Smith held the Ducks to one goal with Stone out of the lineup on the day of the blueliner's trade, but has been beaten 10 times on 43 shots for a .767 save percentage in a pair of disastrous performances since. With Arizona selling off assets at the deadline, expect Smith's 16-8-6 record to tank even further down the stretch.
