Trading a young goaltender is a risky bet for any NHL team

Whenever a team is looking to build a roster for the future, sometimes they look to go and grab a goaltender for the long haul. Sometimes, that includes going out and finding a young netminder from elsewhere.

We’ve seen it in recent years where a rebuilding team goes out and gets a young and talented goaltender. The San Jose Sharks traded for Yaroslav Askarov, and the move has seemingly paid off, as the Sharks are busy battling for a Wild Card spot this year. People might also forget how the Ottawa Senators offloaded Ben Bishop to the Tampa Bay Lightning and Robin Lehner to the Buffalo Sabres. While Lehner would find success with other teams down the line, Steve Yzerman acquired a good young backstop in Bishop that would eventually lead his Lightning to a Stanley Cup Final appearance in 2015.

That leads to the topic of Minnesota Wild netminder Jesper Wallstedt, who has been dynamite during the first half of the season. However, with the Wild having Filip Gustavsson locked up, there might be interest from other teams in pursuing the younger Swedish backstop.

On Tuesday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Carter Hutton explains why taking a swing for a young netminder is risky, but could pay off down the line.

Carter Hutton: It is a different race with goaltending. We see young guys come in and be impactful right away. The impact in games – Celebrini, Bedard, Schaefer. With goalies, it’s tricky. There’s so much more of a mental headspace to manage moments and be there. You got to take your bumps and bruises along the way. It’s risk-reward if you’re trying to win now. This is a Minnesota team that’s yet to get out of the first round in a long time. They need to try to win, I think, to keep the fans coming back because they’ve had a lot of years of successful regular seasons with no playoff success. 

You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…