Goaltender Evgeni Nabokov of the San Jose Sharks may be switching conferences to play for the Eastern conference Champions Philadelphia Flyers. That is of course if he doesn’t jump the pond to go play for the Russian KHL league.
The Flyers, who struggled last year in net due to injuries and poor play, look to add a solid number one goalie. Nabokov at the older age of 34 brings concerns to some fans, however with a 2.39 goals against average and a .912 save percentage over his 10 year career should bring calm to the doubters.
As of right now the possibility is still a rumor. Yet like many rumors, there usually is some truth to the talk. The Flyers could definitely use a goalie who they could rely upon, but you still need to question why not go with goaltenders Brian Boucher or Michael Leighton who carried the team to the Stanley Cup Finals?
It will be interesting to see what all pans out, especially with Nabokov having an option to play in Russia. Throw in that the Flyers have to decide what to do with their current 3 goalies who are unrestricted free agents (Caron Sebastian, Ray Emery & Michael Leighton), the decision will become even more difficult.
If Nabokov is signed by the Flyers, expect either a trade involving Boucher to back up for the Sharks and the Flyers potentially signing a younger of the two Leighton, or Nabokov and Boucher splitting time (more common now in the new NHL) and a bidding war for Leighton who I believe to be coming into his prime.
The next question though is who will the Sharks goalie of tomorrow or goalie of this year be? Could there be a Calder trophy nominee Jimmy Howard waiting in the shadows? (I still think Howard should have won over Tyler Myers)
[…] Nabokov has signed a six-year deal worth $24 Million with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL. As EB first speculated last week, this wasn’t much of a surprise because it was an option should Nabby not catch on […]