The Fourth Period :: Chicago Blackhawks :: Should the Blackhawks rent a goalie?


February 14, 2012 \| 10:09am ET

Should the Blackhawks rent a goalie?
TheFourthPeriod.com

With the trade deadline less than two weeks away, there remains far too many teams that believe they can still make a playoff run and are reluctant to give up the race before Feb. 27.

According to the Globe and Mail, the Chicago Blackhawks, who are riding an eight-game losing streak, are victims of the scarce market as GM Stan Bowman struggles to find committed sellers to acquire goaltending help and take coach Joel Quenneville off the hot seat.

Young starter Corey Crawford may still be the Hawks' netminder of the future, but neither he nor backup Ray Emery are collecting victories at the moment. The Hawks currently rank 27th in the league with an average of 3.00 goals allowed per game.

Bowman is looking for an experienced goaltender immediately, but the one that was expected to be available, Evgeni Nabokov, is supposedly off the trade block since New York Islanders GM Garth Snow considers his club still in playoff contention.

The 36-year-old netminder is the perfect rental player, posting a .923 save percentage and 2.29 goals-against average in 29 games this season. He has an affordable cap hit of $570,000 and is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

However, what appears to be available at the moment for Bowman is Edmonton Oilers veteran netminder Nikolai Khabibulin, who has one year remaining on his contract at a cap hit of $3.75 million per season.

More Trade Deadline Info
List of Trades | No-Trade/No-Movement Clauses | Top 25 Available Players | Team-by-Team Cap Info