As much as i don’t like forwards playing on their off wing, i absolutely hate D men doing it. Holden LD, don’t mind re-signing him, but not to play RD regularaly.

Khudobin will be one of the best goalies on the FA market as it is weak year for them. He might get a shot a sharing a starting job or even outright starting job if things fall right. Not many teams in the mareket for a #1 but even as a 2 someone will likely give him double that.

Solid, despite no big splash. Shows how deep they are.

I don't mind the off D thing. I think Grzelcyk + Holden at RD is better than Holden LD + Miller. That's what I was thinking of when I made it.

Khudobin might get more from someone else, but he left Boston and played poorly before and then decided to come back to Boston to figure things out. Last year he wasn't very good and Boston stuck with him, I've gotta think that would mean something to him. If he chases money, maybe he gets more but anyone who pays him to be a potential starter is likely to be highly disappointed similar to Scott Darling. I think he's figured out in his mind that he's not a starting goaltender. He left Boston to become one and it didn't work out and he ended up being the 3rd goalie in Anaheim. He's back in Boston and he's going to get around 30 games.... that's some pretty solid action for a backup. He gets to be a pretty big piece of the team while here, so maybe he asks for more money but I don't think he'd actually want to leave. This could be the type of guy who takes less to stay where he's wanted and comfortable. Next mock I'll bump him up to 1.7M, because you did make a decent argument on his price tag but I think if we keep him it's at a price under 2M given our cap situation.

I don't know if I like the idea of not bringing back Riley Nash. He is having a career year with us and could be a valuable asset to trade.

So you're suggesting signing him to trade him? I don't think that is realistic and I don't think he's worth more than a 4th. Not bringing back Riley Nash is like my chance to pass on Chris Kelly and Matt Beleskey. I thought Kelly's deal was outrageous and we should have let him walk at the price he got. Nash likely gets over 2M elsewhere and I don't think he's worth that here especially considering our cap situation in another year. He's a 1 year wonder at this point in time and unless he'll take something like 1.5M, he should be let go imo. We paid a lot for Kelly in a 1 year wonder situation: it didn't work. We paid a lot for Matt Beleskey in a 1 year wonder situation: it didn't work. If we pay a lot on Riley Nash in a 1 year wonder situation, no-one should be surprised if it doesn't work out well. Players are most likely to play better in a contract season and I don't think we should be suckered again.

You should, it’s one thing for a forward, but when a d man gets out of position, wrong footed, etc because he is on his off side it is disastrous and it’s happened more than once to B’s this year.

Canes did not sigh Khudobin to be the starter. He was brought in to backup Ward. He just ended up being one due to injury and ineffectiveness of Ward. He has never gone into a season being the teams de facto #1. Given a chance he will jump at it. No athlete would rather sit the bench. The best goalies on the FA market are Raanta, Hutton, Bernier, Khudobin, Lehtonen. Nothing stellar. Luckily only a few teams will be in the market for a #1. A few teams have learned a hard lesson, like we did with Gustavson, about not having a decent backup. With the cap going up i can see someone paying him double what B’s are now just to be a backup. And this is the second biggest contract he’s had. He will take the biggest deal unless it’s close to B’s offer.

I think it's plain stupid to talk about something happening "more than once" in 64 games and suggesting thats a big problem. Unless it's a substantial amount it's basically meaningless and it's based on each player separately. I don't think you even know if Holden can do it any better unless you're also a Rangers fan and watch all their games too so I think you're just being a bit dumb here.

You left out guys like Reto Berra, Chad Johnson, Cam Ward, Jared Coreau, Harri Satteri, Eddie Lack, Jaroslav Halak, Ondrej Pavelec and Michael Hutchinson in your backup selection. A lot of those guys aren't as good, but if they are half the price there is some better options than Khudobin. If there are more goalies available then spots for them to go to then GM's should get each goalie at a reduced rate. That's what happens when the market gets flooded. I think you're suggesting that Khudobin is some kind of special goalie, but I think his play is like 75% Bob Essensa. We've gotten good numbers out of our backups probably since 2007. I don't think it's because we have good goalies, the common denominator is Essensa and he's gotten the most out of each goalie. Svedberg was dogged by fans, but he put up really good numbers. Gustavsson wasn't great, but he didn't have a single season of which I would call a success over his entire career so what were we expecting. Bottom line is that if Khudobin wants to chase the money, theres a good chance he fails. If we don't bring him back, theres a good chance our backup plays pretty well.

I'll take Chad Johnson back here at a 1y 1m deal with the thought Essensa can turn him back around rather than pay Khudobin 2.5M+ on a 3 year deal.

When it’s the cause of giving up a goal i see it as a problem. Especially when it isn’t necessary to put yourself in that situation. Sorry you don’t.

I left them out because they suck. I listed the best of the bunch that have a shot at being pursued as a starter. I wasn’t talking about potential backups for Bruins, i was talking about the likelyhood af AK re-signing as opposed to signing elsewhere.

Johnson or hutchinson would be my choices for fallback options.

yes Johnson and Hutchinson are good options. If you're saying he's definitely getting over 2M for some term, then I think it's best for both parties that we separate, but I don't have the feeling it's going to go like that. I think we know he's not a core piece, but he is a very useful player. The number I have for him now is 1.75M. I've mentioned it a couple times but you haven't responded wether you think that is fair or not. I'm basing it as if he was offered 2M to go play for another team or take 1.75M here. I think that's about a coin flip because I think he likes Rask as his goaltending partner, he obviously works well with Essensa and he's been in Boston twice now and he's been good both times. If he goes somewhere else and fails, it'll probably be the end of his NHL career.

Depends on the situation. If its 2m for a straight backup job on a lesser team he stays in Boston for 1.75. If it’s 2-2.5 and a 50/50 split with a chance to take the starting job he walks. Just a couple of those possibilities exist though and Hutton, Raanta, Bernier would likely be ahead of him on most teams lists. 2.5 to be backup on a decent team. He walks. Cap looks to be 80m next year. I can easily see a team giving him 2.5. B’s won’t...and shouldn’t.

I don't know why a team would offer him 2.5M at this point, but I'll take your word for it that there is a good possibility. I think that's a stupid view for a team to have and I think they'll end up being unhappy in that situation. I'd easily pass on anything over 2M..... basically zero thought needed, just running on instinct alone I know not to do that deal.

Canes gave him 2 years 4.5m in ‘14. Cap going up. Teams realizing the importance of backup. 3 or 4 teams looking for starter/co-starter. Market could be there. Condon, Neuvirth, Reimer, Bernier are a few backups making over 2m. Not saying it is a guarantee. But all the contributing factors are there.

I'm smart enough to know anything is always possible, but I don't think it's a good move to do which is why I don't really recognize it as a strong possibility. If it were the right thing to do than I'd be supporting it, but it seems like whoever signs him at over 2M is overpaying and he also likely declines while playing away from Essensa. Anyone who gambles on him being the same or better player in their organization than he's been with Boston is going to likely lose. That's like deciding to play against the house.

2.44 .916 in Boston

2.50 .914 in Carolina

1.70. .929 Minn/Ana

Not sure where you see this big difference outside of Boston.

I was looking at 2014-2017, his recent play. He wasn't his best in 2014 and wasn't good again until the start of 2017 in Boston. You do remember how bad he was early and mid season last year right? What I believe turned him around was Essensa's coaching. Now that he's back in great form it doesn't make sense for him to leave again unless a huge offer comes in, but that'd be stupid by the oppositions GM. Your case for him making over 2M isn't strong at all. You're basically just suggesting some team is going to get stupid and overpay because it happens some times. The four goalies you listed along with Khudobin as UFA's will probably all be considered as better than he. They either put up better numbers this season or have been a starting goaltender more often. So you're telling me that it's realistic that 5 backup goalies are going to be paid over 2M this offseason? I think that's a pretty big stretch. I'm not going to rule it out, but to act like theres a high probability of it happening doesn't seem logical.