The NHL trade deadline is coming this week and rumors have surrounded the top names on the block, including Martin Brodeur, Jaroslav Halak, Cam Ward, Ryan Kesler and Ryan Callahan and those are some of the players that could move at the date on Wednesday and teams like the Pittsburgh Penguins, Chicago Blackhawks, Minnesota Wild or Anaheim Ducks could make moves.
The deadline started off with a big deal with Ryan Miller moving from the Buffalo Sabres to the St. Louis Blues and that brought Jaroslav Halak over and now he could move in another trade coming up. There are a number of teams that could be in line to make a deal for a goalie and the Minnesota Wild have been mentioned numerous times, as they were in contention for a deal involving Miller and now they could look at Brodeur, Halak and Ward as options instead after he went to the Blues.
St. Louis is considered one of the favorites in the west now and they have added Miller, which upgraded the biggest weakness for the team in net. Halak has been solid since taking over the starting job for the Blues, but he has been inconsistent in big games and in the playoffs and now they add Miller, who has experience in the postseason and in the Olympics. Brodeur has long been mentioned as an option for teams, as he has been supplanted as the starter for Cory Schneider with the Devils and that could spark him to look for a place where he could start or be a steady backup.
According to ESPN.com, Brodeur and Ward could be targets for teams like the Wild and the Pittsburgh Penguins, as the top team in the east could look for a legitimate backup option for Marc Andre-Fleury. The team has Tomas Vokoun but he has missed nearly the entire season and that means he won't be relied on in the playoffs and while Fleury has been great, he can't start every game the rest of the way and he hasn't always been his best in the postseason either.
ESPN.com also suggests that the Chicago Blackhawks could be a surprise team that also could get involved in one of the golaies, as they do not have an experienced backup for thier star in Corey Crawford. Last season the team rode Crawford to the Stanley Cup and they had Ray Emery as the backup and now they have Antti Raanta, but he is not experienced and bringing in any of the three names available could be options.
