The Senators were looking to acquire a goalie when Mike Condon went down with a hip issue shortly after being sent to the minors, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. Even though the team is hopeful that the netminder will be able to return next month, he suggests that they may still want to add some depth between the pipes in case injuries strike as they don’t want to bring up prospect Filip Gustavsson from the AHL just yet; he’s in his rookie AHL campaign. They could look to bring in an AHL veteran or perhaps someone on a cheap deal at the NHL level that would allow them to return Mike McKenna to the minors and put him back in the third-string role that he was originally expected to fill.
More goalie notes from around the hockey world:
- There is no timeline for when Devils goaltender Cory Schneider will return to the lineup, notes Abbey Mastracco of the Bergen Record. The veteran was put on IR last week with an abdominal strain. This season has not gone well at all for the 32-year-old who has posted a nightmarish 4.66 GAA with a .852 SV% in seven appearances so far. Instead of potentially having a 1A/1B tandem with Keith Kinkaid, the latter has had to take on the bulk of the workload and is starting to falter. With that in mind, rookie Mackenzie Blackwood may be in line for some more playing time coming out of the break.
- If the Rangers are able to get top goalie prospect Igor Shesterkin signed for next season, that will change the fortunes for current backup Alexandar Georgiev. Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post notes that the Russian prospect is in the final year of his KHL deal and New York will be taking a run at signing him after that time. It’s highly unlikely that Shesterkin, who the team hopes is their starter of the future, would agree to any AHL time so that would force Georgiev into a number three role. While he’ll still be waiver-exempt next season meaning that they could keep him around for depth, they could also try to capitalize on his trade value at that time as young goalies with NHL experience are often coveted around the league.