NHL
2026 NHL
Trade Deadline
Sergei Bobrovsky could be a difference-maker in the playoffs. Bruce Bennett / Getty Images
The NHL trade deadline is on Friday and, as always, more teams are hunting for a goalie than there are netminders to be found.
That could be further magnified by the parity between teams this season. With so many still in the playoff chase, fewer are willing to sell a goalie. There aren’t many obvious options on the trade market, but we’ll make a case for six goalies who could help a contender to varying degrees.
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They range from starters who could instantly elevate a contender to Stanley Cup favorite status to backups who could solidify a tandem entering a long, arduous postseason, and even a young potential franchise goalie.
Here’s an argument for why each goalie could end up being one of the best acquisitions of the deadline.
There’s no point in easing into this. Let’s start the list off with a bang.
It’s easy to make a case for how Bobrovsky can help a contender. He’s played in three straight Stanley Cup Final series. The 37-year-old is having a rough season playing behind the banged-up defending champions. His save percentage is below .900 for the first time since 2011-12 (his second season in Philadelphia) and he has a negative goals saved above expected number (-15.5) for the first time in five years.
But we’ve seen this from Bobrovsky before. His aggressive, acrobatic style can lead to big numbers against him if he’s not at his sharpest, especially if the team in front of him is leaky. That same style can also carry a team through the postseason when he is on his game, and that chance alone is a bet worth making.
If Bobrovsky looked like he was physically slowing down, there would be more reason for hesitation, but that’s not the case. He’s as physically fit as any goalie in the league and still looks it on the ice. There have been more bad nights than good this season, but his best is still elite, and there are plenty of recent examples of that.
Bobrovsky is on an expiring deal, set to hit free agency this summer, and hasn’t made progress toward an extension in Florida, according to The Athletic’s Chris Johnston. A trade still feels unlikely, but contenders without a stud in net should be calling. Acquiring Bobrovsky could be the move of the deadline.
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Merzļikins’ name has made the rounds at this time of year for several seasons, and that was before he had been supplanted as the starter in Columbus. Even as the Blue Jackets fight for one of the final playoff spots in the East, Jet Greaves’ emergence could open the door to them shopping Merzļikins.
He still has another year beyond this season on his current deal, with a cap hit of $5.4 million. That is a bit high, but with the recent rise in the cap and goalie contracts that have followed, it suddenly looks a lot more reasonable (especially for only one more season).
Merzļikins still has issues with consistency, and that’s unlikely to change. At 31, he is what he is at this point, but he’s also the type of goalie who can get hot, stand on his head and steal a playoff series. His postseason experience is extremely limited, but in his only two opportunities in 2020, he stopped 70 of 74 shots (.946).
The ship has already sailed, but this is the type of gamble that would have made sense for the Oilers, rather than swapping Stuart Skinner for another similarly styled, high-floor goalie in Tristan Jarry. The contracts are comparable, and Merzļikins offers a higher ceiling.
He is a fiery, athletic goalie built to be the hero. Any team that trades for Merzļikins is rolling the dice, but it could pay off. Hang up the phone with the league office, cue up “Viva Las Vegas” by Elvis’ namesake and hope Lady Luck keeps the dice hot.
Speaking of Skinner, he could also be available at the deadline. The 27-year-old has been solid since joining the Penguins, going 8-4-2 with a .890 save percentage and 8.06 GSAx through Monday. Currently in a playoff position, Pittsburgh could prefer to hold onto Skinner to keep him in rotation with Artūrs Šilovs.
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However, with Skinner set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, and the Penguins’ promising goalie prospect Sergei Murashov tearing up the AHL, there’s a chance Pittsburgh doesn’t see a future with Skinner and would prefer to get something for him.
He doesn’t represent a drastic upgrade as a starter, but Skinner is a big, solid, positional goalie with a lot of playoff experience. Behind a structured defense, he could thrive.
Unbefitting of his name, Cooley has been on an absolute heater. The 28-year-old, who has played the majority of his career in the AHL, has been lights out backing up Dustin Wolf in Calgary.
Cooley’s .923 save percentage is the highest in the NHL among goalies with at least 20 games played. He ranks fifth with 16.3 GSAx behind only Ilya Sorokin, Logan Thompson, Andrei Vasilevskiy and Jeremy Swayman.
Considering his body of work, it’s unrealistic to expect Cooley to step in as a starter and reproduce these types of numbers for a contender, but any front office feeling uneasy with its backup situation could solidify its depth by acquiring Cooley for what shouldn’t be a haul.
Calgary likes Cooley a lot, and already signed him to a two-year, $2.7 million extension that hasn’t even started yet. But the Flames are in a rebuild, already have their goalie of the future and need future assets, so they could at least consider moving him.
Binnington is the only goalie to make it onto every version of The Athletic’s Trade Board this season, and after a solid showing at the Olympics in Italy, he’s still a potential upgrade for teams deficient in the crease.
The season-long stats are ugly. Binnington ranks last out of 92 goalies with -23.8 GSAx, and his .867 save percentage is close to the bottom of the league.
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Still, Binnington’s reputation among general managers, coaches and his peers as a big-game performer is well established, and his play behind Team Canada in Italy only furthered it. Rebound control is still the biggest concern, which stems from how aggressively Binnington challenges on initial shots, but as we saw in the Olympics, that issue can be mitigated by strong defense.
It’s the riskiest option on this list — largely because his reputation could inflate his price well beyond what his actual production justifies — but he has consistently elevated his game when pressure rises. If a contender were to plant their flag by trading for him and making him their starter for the playoffs, that would certainly ratchet up the pressure.
Most of the other goalies on this list are short-term fixes or rental additions, but if a team were to trade for Minnesota’s promising rookie, it would have the potential to change the franchise’s future outlook in net.
Just ask the San Jose Sharks or Chicago Blackhawks if they’re happy with their trades for Yaroslav Askarov and Spencer Knight. Both have been stellar this season and project to anchor each team for the next decade-plus, and Wallstedt represents a similar potential.
The Swedish netminder has already shown exceptional patience and angles at the NHL level. He regularly wins one-on-one battles with shooters and is only scratching the surface of his game at 23 years old, with 30 starts under his belt.
As with Florida and Nashville when they traded away Askarov and Knight, respectively, the Wild already have a talented starter with Filip Gustavsson under contract through 2031. If Minnesota wants to add another skater in its push to win now, moving Wallstedt could be on the table.
It would require quite a package in return, but Wallstedt might be worth it.
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Jesse Granger is a staff writer for The Athletic NHL based in Las Vegas covering the Golden Knights and goaltending across the league. He has covered the Golden Knights since its inception and was previously an award-winning reporter for the Las Vegas Sun. Follow Jesse on Twitter @JesseGranger_
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