NHL rumblings: Goalie market twists and turns, and what's next on Jonathan Toews?

In the context of the unpredictable goalie world we now live in, we bring you the case of Logan Thompson .

What a trade last summer by the Washington Capitals .

But what do you do now with the hottest goalie in the NHL , who just happens to be an unrestricted free agent on July 1? Sign him, of course.

But its a little more complicated than that.

Advertisement In 30 years of covering the NHL, Ive never heard NHL front offices more unsure and skittish about evaluating goalies and how to spend cap dollars on them.

Thompson, who turns 28 next month, is having a career season, and hes making the league minimum $766,667 the last year of a three-year deal he signed in Vegas when he was still finding his NHL sea legs.

You want to talk late bloomer? The Calgary native was playing Canadian university hockey just seven years ago at Brock.

Entering Thursdays games, he was in the top three in the NHL in goals-against average and save percentage and battling Hart Trophy candidate Connor Hellebuyck for goals saved above expected.

Heres the thing about him: Hes getting better, former NHL goalie, goalie coach and current TSN color analyst Jamie McLennan told The Athletic on Thursday.

Hes 27.

Hes just coming into his prime.

Hindsight is everything, of course, but the Caps probably should have tried to sign him a month ago.

But the surprising, first-place Capitals have a unique situation on their hands with both of their goalies pending UFAs in Thompson and Charlie Lindgren .

They like their goalies.

A bit more than a week ago, I wrote that the Capitals were treading carefully as to how they were going to approach the goalies, worried about what it might do if they signed one before the other.

Plus theyve got other pending UFAs on the roster, including a key one in top-four defenseman Jakob Chychrun .

But Thompson has played so well that my understanding is the Caps have indeed engaged more meaningfully of late in talks with his camp, led by agent Allain Roy.

I would imagine a perfect scenario would be to try to have him extended before the 4 Nations break.

Whats a fair contract for the hottest goalie in the league these days? Recent goalies extensions signed by Mackenzie Blackwood (five years, $5.25 million average annual value) and Joey Daccord (five years, $5 million AAV) loom large in the conversation, to be sure.

Advertisement Blackwood, Daccord and Thompson are all around the same age.

Does Thompson end up past both on a new deal? I could see him pushing for something with a six in it, McLennan said.

Hes put himself in a category.

If youre talking about Canadian goaltending and the next one, he might be in there.

The flip side, of course, is what happened to Tristan Jarry after he signed a five-year deal with Pittsburgh at a $5.38 million AAV just two years ago, and thats after already playing in two NHL all-star games.

The point being: His NHL track record was more layered than Thompsons or Daccords.

And well, theres also Jack Campbell, who signed a five-year, $25 million deal with Edmonton back in July 2022.

There are no guarantees, right? But the Caps really have no choice at this point.

They probably have to sign Thompson.

Hes good, hes got some swagger and he battles in the net, McLennan said.

I think the Capitals have to pay him.

I think Thompson has put himself into the conversation of being a top-tier Canadian goaltender, as well.

Right now, youve got to see it for what its worth.

The Caps traded for him.

Hes delivered for them.

They obviously like him.

And hes in his wheelhouse of his prime and getting better.

Goalies from 27-32 continue to get better with age.

More pending-UFA-goalie rumblings From a sneaky trade acquisition in Thompson last summer, we go to a sneaky goalie signing in Kevin Lankinen by the Vancouver Canucks before this season.

Lankinen didnt sign his one-year, $875,000 deal with the Canucks until Sept.

21.

His camp was waiting for potential goalie trades to happen elsewhere last summer, which would have opened up jobs with those teams.

Those didnt materialize, and Vancouver benefited.

Where would the Canucks be without him given Thatcher Demko s delayed start to the season? Quite a bargain signing, especially considering Lankinen made $2 million last year with the Nashville Predators .

Advertisement As The Athletic s Thomas Drance recently wrote , both the Canucks and Lankinens camp have communicated a desire in preliminary discussions to extend at some point.

But nothing is imminent.

Both sides will be better served by having more salary-cap clarity once the NHL and NHLPA confirm that number for next season, but also the Canucks obviously are pretty focused on the J.T.

Miller situation.

(They also continue to talk to teams about Elias Pettersson .) But eventually, the two sides aim to get things going for real.

I cant imagine Lankinen will want to come in under $4 million a year.

So with Demko with another year on his contract at $5 million, thats obviously something to consider.

Canes cool off on goalie search Frederik Andersen is back playing after recovering from knee surgery, and for now, it sounds like the Carolina Hurricanes have backed off their plan to trade for a goalie.

Few teams called around more on the goalie market than Carolina in the early months of the season.

But now they feel theyre ahead of where they were entering the season with everyone healthy plus the addition of Dustin Tokarski for depth.

There are only so many trade assets at the Canes disposal, and right now the focus is upgrading offensively, which is why theyre among a handful of teams talking to Vancouver about Miller.

If its not Miller, the Canes will try to add a piece up front before the deadline.

So despite renewed talks with the Anaheim Ducks on John Gibson earlier this season, after having also tried to trade for him over the summer, for now it sounds like Carolina is satisfied with its goaltending.

Always subject to change depending on injuries, of course.

Dont expect Toews back this season ...

Winnipeg Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff created a buzz this week when he mentioned his teams interest in Jonathan Toews.

But I think one thing needs to be made clear: My understanding is that Toews isnt planning on coming back this season.

Advertisement Dont ever bet against a guy with the heart of a lion, but all things being equal, if Toews comes back at all to play in the NHL, I think its going to be for next season.

And its important to note that even that would not be guaranteed.

It all depends on how he feels once he starts to ramp it up.

Having said that, I know that Toews is actually touched that teams have reached out and expressed interest given all his time away.

And I do think that playing for his hometown team in Winnipeg would be of legitimate interest to him.

Still, so much remains to play out over the coming months to see where this goes.

(Top photo of Logan Thompson: Patrick Smith / Getty Images).

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