Why do goaltenders have low trade value?

Tuesday saw the first notable trade of the 2026 offseason, as the Toronto Maple Leafs dealt goaltender Joseph Woll to the Philadelphia Flyers in a deal which saw four players swapped. However, even as Woll comes off a slightly disappointing season, it feels like he could have fetched a larger return than what the Leafs got in the deal. But Woll isn’t the first instance of this, as goaltenders always seem to go for a cheaper price than their value would suggest.

So why do goaltenders always have lower trade value than expected? Carter Hutton explains why the goaltending trade market is always so underwhelming on Daily Faceoff Live.

Carter Hutton: I think the other factor is the fact that there’s so much unpredictableness on the timing of goaltending. There’s so many other sides of it where if you do give someone a big contract… like perfect example right now is the Vegas Golden Knights. You’re sitting here with the Stanley Cup champion, Adin Hill, and he has this long-term deal and it feels like an anchor to your team because Carter Hart comes in and steps in. So that is the risk with goalies. We’re not far removed from when Sergei Bobrovsky signed his a big contract for $10 million a year and it didn’t start well, but things didn’t go that way.

So I think there is value. It’s trying to figure out [when] to catch lightning in a bottle on a goalie to play well at the right time and be consistent. And I know Brandon Bussi is all the buzz right now, but we saw that with Matt Murray. Matt Murray was unbelievable in that Pittsburgh run against [San Jose and] Nashville. He shut out the winning game, won the Stanley Cup, and then he dwindled away in Pittsburgh. So it doesn’t mean you can really forecast goaltending. I think that’s the hardest part of judging that trade value. It’s the fact of having depth, having guys that can avoid injury, and then catching lightning in a bottle.

You can watch the full episode here…