Chris Osgood
Chris Osgood will most likely be traded. The Wings could probably get more
trade value from Legace, but I’m pretty sure Osgood will be the one to go,
but it probably won’t be until the season starts. Here’s why.
Right now, there are very few teams who actually need a $3 million goalie. However, once the season starts, that situation may change. Why? Many teams have goalies that are inexperienced and may flop like Boucher did. Some teams have goalies that aren’t that good. Some teams have goalies who may have their play slowed by injury, or who played somewhat inconsistently last year. All the goalies of the teams listed have at least a little
potential to flop. Here is a list of teams that have a potential problem in goal.
Philly- Cechmanek possible sophomore slump
San Jose- Nabokov slumped at end of season; Kiprusoff unproven
Pittsburgh- Hedberg possible slump
Buffalo- Biron unproven as starter
St. Louis- Braithewaite unproven
Vancouver- Cloutier not a great goalie
NYI- DiPietro unproven, Snow not great
Calgary- Turek streaky
Chicago- Thibault not great
Minnesota- possible slump for Fernandez
LA- Potvin streaky
Phoenix- Burke tailed off at end of season
Anaheim- Shields has been streaky in past
Florida- Luongo possible sophomore slump
NYR- Richter uncertain, no clear #1 after him
Atlanta- no clear #1
Boston- Dafoe oft-injured
Ottawa- Lalime may have sophomore slump
There are probably some others that I can’t think of right now, but odds are that at least a couple of those teams (probably not more than that; I
don’t see a mass goalie slump occurring) will have a problem, at which point Ozzie’s value will sky rocket. Plus, you can’t count out injury. If Brodeur goes down, the Devils will need a solid goalie to take his place. So if the Red Wings are patient, they may just be able to wring out a lot more for Osgood than they can now.