Trade Rumors: Evgeni Nabokov May Not Hit Free Agency

Evgeni Nabokov may not be heading back to San Jose, despite playing his entire career with the team and travelling the farthest he ever made it into the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The reason why is likely his awful numbers during the post season followed by his lofty 5.375 cap hit. His 2.56 GAA and .909 SV% actually were career highs this past post-season despite being no match for the Chicago Blackhawks.

The most likely destination may be Philadelphia, as the Flyers are rumored to have traded a 7th round pick for his exclusive negotiating rights.

Which begs the question: If Nabokov and Leighton couldn’t handle the Blackhawks’ offense, why would they get another chance?

The Flyers are known for a hole between the pipes despite fielding one of the most powerful top six forward cores and top four on the blue line. Signing Nabokov may be an upgrade to the Ray Emery/Brian Boucher/Leighton debacle but not by much.

Leighton posted one of the best seasons of any Flyers goaltender for several years. He posted a 2.46 GAA and .916 SV% in the playoffs with almost identical numbers during the regular season leading to his 16 wins.

Nabokov should remain a top five goaltender in fantasy mainly because of his successful regular seasons. As far as playoffs go, he remains unproven but should get another chance for a strong Flyers team.