Who stays, goes between the pipes for Sharks and Penguins?

Just as quickly as the 2016 hockey season ended, the offseason uproar is already in full swing. And while the San Jose Sharks and Pittsburgh Penguins just hung up their skates for the season, there are still members of those rosters who could be on the move.

Each team has its own list of free agents and salary cap hits, but they both share a common thread — changes to the goaltending corps that they carried into the NHL postseason.

In San Jose…  There promises to be some contract talk coming out of Team Teal’s camp this summer with a list of notable unrestricted free agents. And there will be plenty of attention on Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau, as there is every offseason.

But talk of netminder James Reimer being on the move has been circulating for the majority of time that he has been in San Jose. Although he just started sporting a teal sweater and backing up Martin Jones this February, Reimer will more than likely test the free agent market with his two-year, $4.6 million contract up in this offseason.

Reimer made a very brief appearance in the playoffs when he stepped in for Jones in Game 4 of the Western Conference Final against the St. Louis Blues. But an impressive stat line in the latter part of the regular season made him a candidate for a starting job in starter-seeking cities such as Calgary and Edmonton. NBCSports.com summarized the scenario:

“While his inconsistent history makes him something of a gamble, he’s still likely to get a significant raise this summer and that might price him out of San Jose, which is paying Martin Jones $3 million annually through 2017-18 and will want to factor in the distinct possibility that Jones will expect a big payday after his current contract plays out.”

It’s perhaps a bit disappointing for the Sharks, who would surely like to maintain a sturdy backup. However, they will go into next season with an elite starter in  Jones, whose playoff prowess in his first postseason as a starter had him in the discussion for the Conn Smythe despite the fact that his team didn’t win the Final.

In Pittsburgh… Even before they became the 2016 Stanley Cup champions, the Penguins were due for a couple moves ahead of the upcoming campaign, as  Mark Easson of My NHL Trade Rumors explained this back on May 20 in a piece looking at movement across the Metropolitan Division. But the potential — well, at this point it’s more "expected" — expansion of the league and the draft that will precede it make the goalie scenario in Pittsburgh a hot topic.

With Matt Murray being part of the current Stanley Cup-winning team after stepping in for the injured Marc-Andre Fleury this postseason — and the fact that he is a cheaper option for a team in need of creating some cap room — it would appear that the 31-year-old veteran would be on the move. However, Fleury’s current contract has limited no-movement/no-trade clauses that, as Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo Sports broke down, can make some tough decision-making on the part of the Penguins:

According to (SportsNet’s Chris) Johnston, “Players holding no-movement clauses — including those modified by limited no-trades, such as Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury — count against the protection limit, provided that those contracts and clauses extend through the 2017-18 season.”  

Fleury’s deal is a bit of a hybrid, in the sense that his limited no-move clause prevents his being demoted or waived while his limited no-trade addresses the places where he could be traded. In the even there’s a player with that kind of deal, apparently they have to be protected.

The Washington Post suggested that Pittsburgh might sit Fleury down this summer and ask him to waive his no-movement clause in favor of keeping Murray:

 “The case for keeping Murray over Fleury is pretty clear. While both now have a Stanley Cup on their resume, Murray is just 22 years old, cheaper and under club control for longer than the 31-year-old Fleury. There’s a narrative element that also works against Fleury. Since the Penguins’ Cup victory in 2009, he has been the leading scapegoat for the playoff shortcomings that plagued Pittsburgh in the years between titles. Though his career regular season save percentage sits at a respectable .912, it dips to .906 in the postseason. Even this year, in his lone start of the playoffs during Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals, he was derided for allowing soft goals and replaced by Murray for Game 6.”