The Minnesota Wild have a strong relationship with new Philadelphia Flyers General Manager, Chuck Fletcher given his nine years in charge in St. Paul. Maybe it’s time to give him a call about one of his players, namely goaltender Anthony Stolarz.
Luckily for them, Chuck Fletcher found a gem of a goaltender in Devan Dubnyk when he signed him several seasons ago. His new team, the Philadelphia Flyers lack any such luck between the pipes, so maybe this would be a smart time for Paul Fenton to consider trading with the former Minnesota Wild General Manager.
In Anthony Stolarz, you’ve got a 24-year-old goaltender that has put up strong numbers in the AHL and has shown himself to be effective in his short stints in the NHL. Not only that, he has the sort of big body that is great for the modern game coming in at 6’6″ and 209 pounds.
A pending contract expiry wouldn’t make him the perfect signing for the Minnesota Wild, but given his track record, he hasn’t yet performed at a level to demand too significant of a pay raise.
The obvious trade would be Alex Stalock or Andrew Hammond, who have both proven themselves as perfectly able in the NHL and actually would be a slight cap saving for the Philadelphia Flyers.
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You’d have to see Hammond as the preferable option in a trade for the Minnesota Wild as it’d mean Stolarz could split the workload with rookie star, Kaapo Kahkonen with the Iowa Wild.
However, it wouldn’t be awful if it was Stalock either; whatever happens you’d be switching a goalie the wrong side of thirty for a much younger one.
Why would Philadelphia consider this, you might ask. Two names; Alex Lyon and Carter Hart. In Carter Hart, they have a goalie in his first pro season that they envisage as the team’s future between the pipes.
In Alex Lyon, they have a very stable and technically strong AHL goalie, that much like Stolarz has been able to elevate his game (for the most part) when given NHL time.
Looking to their NHL line-up, they have Brian Elliot and Michal Neuvirth, who you’d expect both to be ahead of Stolarz on any organisational depth chart and thus why the Minnesota Wild might have some luck if they pursued a deal.
Andrew Hammond proved more than capable a couple of years back when the Ottawa Senators were in desperate need of a goaltending hero. Maybe he could do the same for Philly! The trade market is just starting to warm up, so it’s time to dive in!
To me it’s a no-brainer, take advantage of your former General Manager joining a new team by trading out an older goalie for a younger one, Of course, it’s never that simple, but why not make the call?