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GDT: Canes @ Panthers, 1/2/25, 7pm Eastern

And who really looks like the likely current/next true franchise goalie? They’re few and far between.
Better question ... who actually is a franchise goalie now?

Plenty of guys get paid like they are foundational goalies, but results vary wildly year to year. Bobrovsky and Sorokin are on walkabout following seasons where they dominated. Vasilevsky has never really come back from that back surgery. Gibson, Markstrom and Andersen never really have been that guy consistently. Oettinger isn't there yet, and neither is Swayman although they're both very good. Maybe those two and Ullmark will eventually be proper franchise keepers.

But no, the list is simply too short to set an across the board expectation that you need a high end goalie. We're talking, what? Three guys? And two of them are on teams nobody would call contenders. Hellebuyck, Saros, Shesterkin. I actually expect Vezina caliber play from those three year in and year out. There are other guys who are likely to jump in the mix pretty regularly and even more who will jump in for a year or two and then flame out.

It's all above my pay grade, but I think you're better off with two legit NHL options and that your money is probably best spent on the maybe guys. And even then, I think an even better way to spend your money is on making sure whoever you have in net isn't constantly under bombardment.
 
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