Nabokov?

Reports tonight are that Nabokov has signed with Detroit for $570,000.

Wow. Nabokov is getting old, but by any account, he still would be an above average goalie.

The real interesting part is that as a mid-season signing from abroad, Nabokov has to clear waivers. Will no one put a claim on a goalie of his caliber for such a small price tag? I find that hard to believe.

Two things to consider-- 1) if a team like the Isles take him, he can say 'forget this' and refuse to report, and 2) a team can't claim him and trade him (he would have to clear waivers again before a trade could go through).

13.23 In the event a professional or former professional Player plays in a league outside North America after the start of the NHL Regular Season, other than on Loan from his Club, he may thereafter play in the NHL during that Playing Season (including Playoffs) only if he has first either cleared or been obtained via Waivers. For the balance of the Playing Season, any such Player who has been obtained via Waivers may be Traded or Loaned only after again clearing Waivers or through Waiver claim.

So, that means only teams who are looking for a number one goalie and are competitive should put in a claim. I know one team that fits that description....

Unfortunately I believe the Flyers would be dead last in waiver claim priority as they currently have the best record in the NHL. But as I said above, Nabokov might walk away if a crap team takes him, so all the teams with high waiver priority might not bother. Other playoff bound teams like Vancouver, New York, Pittsburgh, Boston, Dallas, Anaheim, Montreal, Phoenix...etc, are set in net.

I was planning on a future post on the Flyers' goalie options later, but suffice it to say for now that Bobby-Boucher in net is the obvious achilles heel of this otherwise outstanding team. And if I recall correctly, there were a lot of reports in the offseason that Nabokov was the Flyers number one choice in net but they couldn't reach an agreement on salary in the Flyers tight cap situation...

If it were me, I'd put in a claim for Nabokov, and if the Flyers got him, send Bobs to the AHL for the rest of the year. They could swallow Nabokov's dirt cheap salary no problem. Maybe the Flyers felt okay with Bobby-Boucher for the moment, but I just couldn't pass up on goalie like Nabokov with 300 career NHL wins who could fall right into their lap at a super cheap price.