Jamie Squire
Jhonas Enroth was the last man in.
After the Buffalo Sabres signed their backup to Ryan Miller, they became the 30th NHL team with its goaltending situation essentially solved heading to training camp.
The vast majority of teams now have two netminders on one-way contracts who will play in the NHL this season. A couple others have some leeway for a young player to make an impression, but for the most part, goaltending depth charts are set around the league.
Which is bad news for netminders in need of a home like Ray Emery, Marty Turco, Evgeni Nabokov and Pascal Leclaire.
Here's the list of tandems across the NHL, sorted by their team's overall save percentage last season. Players in bold are new arrivals:
Boston: Thomas, Rask Vancouver: Luongo, Schneider Nashville: Rinne, Lindback Washington: Vokoun, Neuvirth NY Rangers: Lundqvist, Biron Montreal: Price, Budaj Phoenix: Smith, LaBarbera Pittsburgh: Fleury, Johnson Florida: Theodore, Clemmensen Los Angeles: Quick, Bernier Carolina: Ward, Boucher Philadelphia: Bryzgalov, Bobrovsky Minnesota: Backstrom, Harding San Jose: Niemi, Niittymaki Anaheim: Hiller, Ellis Dallas: Lehtonen, Raycroft Buffalo: Miller, Enroth Chicago: Crawford, Salak Detroit: Howard, Conklin New Jersey: Brodeur, Hedberg Toronto: Reimer, Gustavsson Ottawa: Anderson, Auld Calgary: Kiprusoff, Karlsson NY Islanders: Montoya, DiPietro Tampa Bay: Roloson, Garon Winnipeg: Pavelec, Mason St. Louis: Halak, Elliott/Bishop Edmonton: Dubnyk, Khabibulin Columbus: Mason, Dekanich Colorado: Varlamov, Giguere In all, that's only five starters jobs that have changed since the end of last season, with Washington, Phoenix, Florida, Philadelphia and Colorado making significant changes.
The biggest wildcards here will be Alexander Salak, who spent last season in Sweden but comes cheap and fits in Chicago's cap situation, and Mark Dekanich, who's been a top AHL option in the Predators organization for a few years.
Neither team says they'll be looking for a veteran option, which means the four fellows I mentioned above could be waiting for an injury for an opening. Jose Theodore was in that position and things worked out when Wild netminder Josh Harding went down, but I highly doubt all four will get NHL work next season.
Being a free agent goalie is a bit like playing musical chairs these days, and Emery, Turco, Nabokov and Leclaire don't have a seat.