Aarif Deen
Question from Jack_Dawg
What is the plan for goalie Trent Miner? He has consistent numbers in the AHL, and in the 25/26 playoffs posted a stat line of 17 GP, 1.87 GAA, .925 SV%, and 4 SO. He is 25, so nearing his prime years, but breaking up ‘The Lumberyard’ seems impractical. What should the Avs do?
Aarif’s Response
Goaltending is and always will be fluid in the NHL. Especially in this era. For example, I don’t think anyone thought Brandon Bussi would be the guy between the pipes — posting a shutout — in the Stanley Cup-clinching game. The Carolina Hurricanes plucked Bussi off waivers last October only because they had to place Cayden Primeau on waivers and lost him to the Toronto Maple Leafs. They liked Primeau. But Bussi ended up being the guy they needed to close out the Vegas Golden Knights. Who woul’ve thought?
That’s how I see goaltending. It’s how most see it nowadays. It’s a bit of a crapshoot. Basically, you need two goalies you feel you can trust. The Avalanche have that in Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood. But these days, unless you have a sure-bet Hall-of-Fame starter, it doesn’t hurt to have another option or two that are lower down the depth chart, not as well-known, but someone you trust in case of an emergency. For the Avs, it’ll be Ilya Nabokov and Trent Miner in 2026-27.
Goalies take longer to develop, and Miner already being 25 years old doesn’t necessarily mean the Avs have to give him a permanent backup role. It just means he needs to continue to do his thing with the Eagles and hope to get a chance that he takes advantage of down the line.
Question from Peter
Elliotte Friedman does not normally talk about rumors unless he is very confident that they are true. Would love to have Connor Hellebuyck. Pretty sure the guy would be extremely motivated knowing he would have the best chance in his career to win a Stanley Cup. But what would that even look like? What would it cost? Would it be worth it for the three-time Vezina Trophy winner?
Aarif’s Response
This is why I wrote about it when that podcast episode came out early last week. Friedman’s stuff usually has some level of truth to it.
To start with the last part of your question, it would absolutely be worth it. Goaltending in the NHL is in a funny place right now. Most teams don’t have a true No. 1 absolute starter. But the ones that do aren’t letting go of them. For good reason.
The Florida Panthers had playoff Bob. Sergei Bobrovsky in the postseason is one of the best ever. He won two Stanley Cups. The Tampa Bay Lightning had (and still have) Andrei Vasilevskiy. They won two Stanley Cups.
No matter how good a team is, having a sure-bet in goal — one of the best in the league — increases your chances of winning. This is part of the reason why the Carolina Hurricanes have been linked to Hellebuyck, even though they just cruised to a Stanley Cup with only three losses, literally a month ago.
As for the cost, I don’t know where to even start because, again, it’s so hard to assess what a goalie is worth nowadays. I would imagine the Avalanche probably would’ve included players with term or team control, since that’s something the Winnipeg Jets always covet. The three names that come to mind right away are Valeri Nichushkin, Jack Drury, and Mackenzie Blackwood. Obviously, the Avs traded the first two already, but I would imagine they could’ve been involved in a trade if this was a mid-to-late June transaction.
Colorado doesn’t have much in terms of futures, so it was likely middle-six forwards, Blackwood, and some younger guys like Gavin Brindley, maybe even Trent Miner. You can lump Nic Roy into the middle-six group, too. Honestly, none of this really sounds all that enticing if you’re the Jets. I bet other teams could’ve offered more.
It’s still fun to wonder what this team could be with that goalie between the pipes.