One more possible destination for Ilya Bryzgalov, the goaltender put on waivers by the Anaheim Ducks this morning: The Pittsburgh Penguins, who've gotten decent work from back-up Dany Sabourin so far this year, plus some up-and-down play from starter Marc-Andre Fleury. The Penguins imagine themselves as a playoff team, with quiet Stanley Cup aspirations. Apart from the lack of scoring after Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin this season, their goaltending has been inconsistent - and it's hard to imagine that Sabourin, after bouncing around the minors and the fringes of the NHL these past few years, is capable of putting in time as a No.1 on a consistent basis.
Gambling on Bryzgalov would represent just that - a risk - but the reward could conceivably be high. The one thing that Bryzgalov has going for him: Whenever he's been put into a pressure situation, he's responded well. Overall, he has a 9-5 record in the playoffs, with a 1.68 goals-against average. In 2006, he helped the Ducks get out of the first round against Calgary by coming on in relief of J.S. Giguere - and led the playoffs with three shutouts and a 1.46 GAA, even though he only got into 11 games. Last year, in more limited playing time, he was a respectable 3-1. Bryzgalov is a quirky, off-the-wall personality, something that comes with the territory as far as goalies go - but his availability, essentially for the cost of his salary (a modest $1.3625 million) will get a lot of GMs turning over the possibilities in the next 24 hours.
