Jay Greenberg of ESPN wrote a speculative piece yesterday on the Flyers goalie situation next year. He says that Boston Bruins netminder Tim Thomas could be a surprise option, even if the Bruins win the Stanley Cup this year. It certainly wouldn’t be unprecedented for a team coming off a cup to get rid of their goaltender, after all the Blackhawks did that very thing last season with Antii Niemi.
Plus, Boston is in an interesting position. They’re up against the cap, Thomas is due $5 million next season and they’ve got young Tukka Rask on a cap friendly deal through next season. Plus, Thomas is 37 years old. With Rask’s deal up next year and Thomas signed for into 2013, the team will have to make a choice about one or either potentially this year. Greenberg says that the Flyers were offered Thomas last year in exchange for Jeff Carter, but the deal was rejected.
There’s little doubt that Thomas is an elite goalie and has been fantastic in these playoffs so far, but do the Flyers want to fork over significant assets to the Bruins and $8 million in cap space over the next two years for a goalie that will be 39 when his contract is up?
With guys like Ilya Bryzgalov and Tomas Vokoun set to hit free agency, it would seem as though a deal for Tim Thomas would be far-fetched.