(Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Since last week when I talked about trading Antti Raanta, he has since, in fact, been traded.  The crew here has covered the return in-depth, so now we need to talk about replacing him.  I’ve spoken at length about Benoit Allaire’s seemingly superhuman ability to help young goaltenders develop into capable NHL starters, but given the current goaltending market, we don’t need Allaire to work miracles.  After perusing the readily available goaltenders who will be looking for jobs on July 1, I thought we could breakdown some of my preferred candidates…

Obviously, the Rangers could swing a trade, a la Antti Raanta, but for our purposes we are just going to look at pending UFA’s that will be available on July 1.

Steve Mason- Philadelphia Flyers

The Flyers made the inexplicable decision to retain Michal Neuvirth instead of Mason this spring, and I think he will be looking for a starting gig somewhere.  However, there aren’t many teams who are devoid of a true number one guy.  Best case scenario for Mason would be to get into a pretty even platoon and try to re-establish some value after a tough season last year.  I don’t think he is a likely fit for the Rangers, but man would I love to see what Allaire could do with the former rookie of the year.  The cost however, could be prohibitive if teams are looking to give him more than backup minutes.

Jonathan Bernier- Anaheim Ducks

(Photo by John Cordes/Icon Sportswire)

Once upon a time, Bernier was one of the hottest young goaltending commodities in the game.  After completely cratering in Toronto (after being dealt for a 2nd round pick plus other assets, no less), the former first round pick had something of a renaissance in Anaheim last season backing up John Gibson.  Still only 28 years old, Bernier will likely be looking for a starting job or at least a platoon situation with a higher salary, but along the same lines as Mason, Allaire could have a really high end backup on his hands if the organization could persuade Bernier to come to Broadway.

Darcy Kuemper- Minnesota Wild

www.NHL.com

There are several things about Kuemper that I really like.  He is still young (27), he has had success over a reasonable sample at the NHL level and his style is very well suited for the modern NHL.  He has struggled with inconsistency at times and his numbers are trending in the wrong direction, but he seems like a perfect candidate for Allaire’s development system.  There is certainly risk here, but there is a lot of potential to extract solid value over a 25-30 game sample with minimal financial commitment.

Anders Nilsson- Buffalo Sabres

Nilsson has never gotten much of a fair shake at any of his previous organizations up until this season in Buffalo.  He impressed while putting up very solid numbers for the Sabres in a 26 game sample this year, however.  Nilsson’s underlying metrics are really solid, so it wouldn’t be so much of a reclamation project for Allaire, more of a task of keeping the young Swede trending in the right direction.  For what it’s worth, Nilsson is probably my preferred choice for the role.

Matt O’Connor- Ottawa Senators

Matt O’Connor, you might remember, was very highly touted as an undrafted free agent out of Boston University.  The Rangers actually pursued him pretty aggressively.  Understandably, he felt there was more opportunity in Ottawa.  While still young, his development has stalled out a bit at the AHL level.  I think Allaire could do really well with O’Connor, but he might be a better bet as the AHL starter rather than expecting him to legitimately relieve Henrik Lundqvist.

 

Keith Kinkaid- New Jersey Devils

www.sny.com

A local kid from Farmingville in Long Island, Kinkaid attended Union College right down the road from me, so I was able to see quite a bit of him over the years.  His style is a bit on the traditional side, but he is a good positional goaltender with solid puck-handling skills.  He has been very solid in backing up Cory Schneider over the past few seasons, so he could be a nice addition on the cheap.  Plus, he has some serious pad game.  Just look at those beauts.

Antti Niemi/Ondrej Pavelec- No, just no.

What do you think?  Any preferred candidates for Uncle Bennie’s Goaltending Academy? Take a moment to vote in our poll and sound off in the comments below.

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