Top five goaltender Trade Deadline deals of the salary cap era

With just over one month until the NHL’s trade deadline on March 8, we’ve got you covered at Daily Faceoff with at least one trade-focused story every day until Deadline Day.

Today, we look back at the best deadline deals made involving goaltenders in the salary cap era.

2024 NHL Trade Deadline Countdown: 35 Days

The trade deadline always brings some interesting moves, as teams get desperate to put their rosters over the top and get that precious Stanley Cup. Sometimes it gives a team success immediately, sometimes it gives them a long-term star, and sometimes it blows up in their face and the player is gone by the summer, but it doesn’t mean it’s not fun to witness in real time.

With the deadline around the corner, I thought I’d take look at the five best trades to happen at the deadline over the next three days, looking at forwards, defensemen, and then goalies. I evaluated them based on the success of the team, the success of the player with that team, and the longevity the player had there, with my window for the “trade deadline” being the start of the calendar year on Jan. 1 of that season. Let’s dive into the honorable mentions before we begin.

Tampa Bay acquires Dwayne Roloson from N.Y. Islanders for Ty Wishart – January 1, 2011

Dallas acquires Kari Lehtonen from Atlanta for Ivan Vishnevskiy and a 2010 fourth round pick (Ivan Telegin) – February 9, 2010

Vegas acquires Robin Lehner from Chicago for Malcolm Subban, Stanislav Demin and a 2020 second round pick (Drew Commesso) (also received Martins Dzierkals from Toronto for a 5th round pick after Toronto retained $1.1 million in cap space in the deal) – February 24, 2020

5. Minnesota acquires Devan Dubnyk from Arizona for a 2015 third round pick (Brendan Warren) – Jan. 14, 2015

If someone told you today that almost 10 years ago, the Minnesota Wild would acquire Dubnyk to save their season after horrible goaltending from Darcy Kuemper, you’d probably be very confused, but that just goes to show how volatile goaltending is. The Wild found themselves with an 18-19-5 record and were eight points out of a playoff spot in the middle of January despite some strong underlying numbers, and Kuemper’s performance as the starter just wasn’t cutting it. The Wild needed goaltending, and thankfully, Dubnyk was doing quite well in Arizona and the Wild were able to grab him for cheap.

That paid off almost immediately for the Wild. They went 28-9-3 the rest of the way, made the playoffs, and won a playoff series for the second straight season, only to fall victim to the Chicago Blackhawks again. That was the most success they’d have after acquiring Dubnyk even after he was traded to San Jose in 2020, but he went on to have four more excellent seasons in Minnesota before falling off. When he left, he finished just 17 wins behind Niklas Backstrom in franchise history, and Dubnyk their playoff wins leader, albeit with eight. Not a bad return for a third round pick.

4.Ottawa acquires Craig Anderson from Colorado for Brian Elliott – February 18, 2011

When the Ottawa Senators swapped Brian Elliott for Craig Anderson close to the 2011 trade deadline, I don’t think anyone was expecting that they were about to bring in the winningest goaltender in franchise history. Sure, Anderson was coming off his first season as a full-time starter, giving the Avs one of just two playoff appearances in their first eight seasons post-Joe Sakic, but he was still an unknown commodity.

Anderson finished off the season in Ottawa playing well with a .939 save percentage, and that would be the first of seven straight seasons with more than a .910 SV% with the Sens. He became the model of consistency in the crease in the nation’s capital, and if the team in front of him was more consistent, he would have had more than four trips to the playoffs, with his last in 2017 being the most memorable. Dominik Hasek’s stint with the Sens in 2005-06 certainly eliminates Anderson as the best goaltender to put on the pads in Ottawa, but when you think of a Sens goalie, it’s probably Anderson. He has a stranglehold on a lot of Ottawa’s franchise marks, while Elliott didn’t find success until after his Avs stint.

3. Edmonton acquires Dwayne Roloson from Minnesota for a 2006 first round pick (Trevor Lewis) and a 2007 third round pick (Spencer Machacek) – March 8, 2006

If I had a nickel for every time Dwayne Roloson was acquired by a team at the trade deadline to then play his a-- off for that team and help them on a deep playoff run, I’d have two nickels. That isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it’s happened twice. While Roloson’s 2011 trade to the Lightning that helped them to the Conference Final just missed out on the list, it’s his 2006 trade to the Oilers that then helped them to the Stanley Cup Final that gets consideration.

When Roloson joined the Oilers, they were a good team with a 32-21-9 record, but their biggest weakness was in the crease, as they couldn’t even get goaltending above .900 until the trade. Roloson was solid in the regular season, but it wasn’t until he got hot in the playoffs that the deal really paid off for Edmonton. Suddenly, they were in the Cup Final, largely due to Roloson’s play in net, and I’m sure a lot of Oilers fans wonder what might have been if he didn’t get hurt in Game 1 considering they almost won the Cup without him. He played a few more seasons in Edmonton after but never quite achieved the same success with them, but that run was certainly worth it.

2. Tampa Bay acquires Ben Bishop from Ottawa for Cory Conacher and a 2013 fourth round pick (Tobias Lindberg) – April 3, 2013

This trade might just go down as one of the rare deals that seemed so lopsided for one team, only for it to go the complete opposite direction. At the time of the trade, Bishop was a solid goaltender, but it was Conacher going the other way that seemed like the key piece of the deal with 24 points in 35 games in his rookie season in Tampa before the deal. But after that move, Bishop blossomed into one of the better starting goalies in the league, while Conacher went on to get 25 points total in the 72 games he played in Ottawa before he was claimed off of waivers by Buffalo the following year.

While Andrei Vasilevskiy (rightfully) gets most of the recognition for the success of the Lightning’s past 10 years, many forget how important Ben Bishop was for the process of turning them into a consistent playoff contender and a Cup threat. He’s the only other goalie besides Vasilevskiy to get more than 100 wins with the Lightning, and his .921 SV% is a franchise-best as well, not to mention how important he was to the team’s trip to the Cup Final in 2015. It made sense to move on to Vasilevskiy when they did, especially because of the salary cap, but the Lightning got a lot out of Bishop when he was in Tampa.

1. Florida acquires Roberto Luongo and Steven Anthony from Vancouver for Jacob Markstrom and Shawn Matthias – March 4, 2014

In case you haven’t noticed, none of my selections resulted in a goalie winning a Cup with the team they were traded to. It probably goes to show that acquiring goalies at the deadline rarely creates immediate success, so it’s best to acquire them for the long term or in the offseason. That’s why the 2014 swap of Roberto Luongo and Jacob Markstrom takes the cake, not just because of the shock factor, but because it did provide some long-term impact for both teams.

It was a perfect scenario of both goalies needing a change of scenery, and then having it work out in the end. Luongo’s time in Vancouver seemed to be up, especially after some drama with not getting the start at the Heritage Classic, and returned to Florida where he thrived and retired as the franchises best goaltender. Meanwhile, Markstrom was struggling to live up to the hype in Florida, and needed a second chance with a new team. It took a couple more seasons after the trade, but he unlocked his potential and became a solid goalie for the Canucks, peaking in his final season in Vancouver before he moved on to Calgary. You don’t find too many trades that are as close to an even win-win as this.