Ranking the Best Moves Involving Goalies During 2015 NHL Draft Weekend

Trades were to be expected during the NHL draft weekend in Sunrise, Florida, but few probably expected this many goaltenders to change teams over the past two days.

Seven netminders have new homes as of Saturday afternoon: Robin Lehner, Cam Talbot, Anton Khudobin, Martin Jones, Antti Raanta, Eddie Lack and Antti Niemi were all dealt either individually or as part of packages. Some could be starters, some could be involved in an equal timeshare and others could be strict backups next season.

The prices for each goaltender were different, and what we're here to do is decide which teams got the most for the least. We will rank each trade from the perspective of the team that acquired the goaltender and decide which organization made the best move.

Click through and see which deal was the best of the bunch.

All statistics and reported trades via NHL.com.

7. Robin Lehner to the Buffalo Sabres

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The deal: The Senators traded Robin Lehner and David Legwand to the Sabres for a first-round pick (No. 25) in the 2015 draft.

Career numbers: 30-36-13, 2.88 GAA, .914 save percentage

About the deal: Lehner was the first goaltender to be traded this weekend, and some thought this could be the deal that set the market for the remaining goaltenders. The Senators had an abundance of goaltenders with Craig Anderson and Andrew Hammond.

Despite this being a buyer's market, the Sabres gave up a first-round pick and took on Legwand's $3 million contract for this season.

"I didn't want to put him in Buffalo, I wanted him to go out west, but I couldn't get a deal done to our satisfaction," Senators general manager Bryan Murray, uncle of Sabres GM Tim Murray, told the team's official website (via NHL.com). "So he ends up in Buffalo and playing against the Ottawa Senators for a number of years."

It's not that Lehner, 23, doesn't have potential to become a true No. 1 in the NHL; it's that as the days unfolded, it became abundantly clear that GMs weren't willing to pay a similar price for unproven talent while the market was flooded with similar goaltenders.

6. Anton Khudobin to the Anaheim Ducks

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The deal: The Hurricanes traded Anton Khudobin to the Ducks for James Wisniewski.

Career numbers: 41-36-8, 2.40 GAA, .919 save percentage

About the deal: The Ducks are doing some odd things with their goaltenders, and dealing a top-four defenseman (one they don't need, sure) for a backup goaltender doesn't make a lot of sense.

Frederik Andersen wasn't great last season; he had a .914 save percentage in the regular season and .913 in the postseason, which says the Ducks could've won the Stanley Cup with just above-average goaltending in the playoffs. John Gibson, thought to be the future of the Ducks, is set to become an restricted free agent next season, just like Andersen.

So the Ducks had a glut of defensemen and now they have a glut of goaltenders.

The 29-year-old Khudobin will be a unrestricted free agent next season and is coming off a disappointing 2014-15 campaign. Cam Ward was struggling with the Hurricanes last season, yet Khudobin never seized control of the No. 1 job, finishing with a career-worst .900 save percentage in 34 games. 

The Ducks seem unsure of what to do with their goaltending long term, but Khudobin for Wisniewski only makes things more confusing.

5. Cam Talbot to the Edmonton Oilers

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The deal: The Rangers traded Cam Talbot and a seventh-round pick (No. 209) in the 2015 draft to the Oilers for a second-round pick (No. 57), third-round pick (No. 79) and seventh-round pick (No. 184) in the 2015 draft.

Career numbers: 33-15-5, 2.00 GAA, .931 save percentage

About the deal: It was no secret that the Rangers wanted to get draft picks back for Talbot after dealing a lot of them over the past two seasons. Once Robin Lehner netted a first-round pick, why couldn't Talbot, who has much better career numbers, net the same?

Well, Talbot is 27, four years older than Lehner, and as an undrafted player, lacks the pedigree of Lehner, a second-round pick in 2009. Talbot was very good while starting in place of an injured Henrik Lundqvist for two months last season, but there's every reason to think that after a mostly average career in the AHL, his hot run as a starter was the result of a bit of luck and playing behind a team riding a high PDO (shooting percentage plus save percentage while on the ice) wave.

Ben Scrivens had a .931 save percentage in 19 games with the Kings before the Oilers acquired him last season for just a third-round pick; he dipped to .916 during the second half of last season and .890 in 57 games last season.

There's potential for something similar with Talbot.

4. Martin Jones to the Boston Bruins

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The deal: The Kings traded Martin Jones, Colin Miller and a first-round pick (No. 13) in the 2015 draft to the Bruins for Milan Lucic.

Career numbers: 16-11-0, 1.99 GAA, .923 save percentage

About the deal: So this is really "the Milan Lucic trade" as opposed to "the Martin Jones trade," but it landed the Bruins the backup goaltender they sorely needed. The Calgary Flames fleeced Bruins general manager Don Sweeney in the Dougie Hamilton trade a couple hours earlier, but he was able to shed Lucic's salary ($3.25 million of it), get a first-round pick and find support for Tuukka Rask. 

Jones, much like Ben Scrivens before him, could be a product of the Kings system, but the Bruins didn't give up all that much to find out. While Cam Talbot is set to become a UFA next season, the 25-year-old Jones is an RFA now, which means the Bruins could buy some UFA years cheap now. 

Again, it's tough to judge the goaltender part of this deal since it was a secondary part of it, but the Bruins did well here.

3. Antti Niemi to the Dallas Stars

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The deal: The Sharks traded the UFA rights of Antti Niemi to the Dallas Stars for a seventh-round pick (No. 193) in the 2015 draft.

Career numbers: 190-100-32, 2.39 GAA, .916 save percentage

About the deal: This transaction is somewhat incomplete, as the Stars have yet to officially sign Niemi. According to the Hockey News' Ken Campbell, both sides are close to a short-term deal that would pay Niemi around $4 million per season.

Assuming that deal gets inked, the Stars have done well for themselves.

Last season, Kari Lehtonen didn't exactly have a lot of help, but he was subpar for a team that could've used better goaltending. Lehtonen had a .903 save percentage in 65 games and is signed for three more years with a cap hit of $5.9 million, according to Spotrac.

Niemi's career save percentage is .916; Lehtonen's is .914.

Having around $10 million allocated to two goaltenders isn't exactly prudent spending, but judging only this deal, the Stars should be much better in net next season if Niemi signs. If not, it only cost the Stars a seventh-round pick.

2. Antti Raanta to the New York Rangers

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The deal: The Blackhawks traded Antti Raanta to the Rangers for Ryan Haggerty.

Career numbers: 20-9-5, 2.41 GAA, .912 save percentage

About the deal: Once the Rangers traded Cam Talbot, they needed a backup goaltender for the 2015-16 season and landed a nice one in Raanta. 

He has a limited body of work but posted a 1.89/.936 split in 14 games for the Blackhawks last season. Raanta, just like Talbot, will be a UFA next summer, but he has a cap hit of just $750,000, according to Spotrac. The Rangers are saving $700,000 in cap space without downgrading at all behind Henrik Lundqvist.

Lundqvist will turn 34 years old next season, so the Rangers need a reliable backup. Raanta should be just that, and all it cost was Haggerty, a forward who was never going to see the light of day with the Rangers.

1. Eddie Lack to the Carolina Hurricanes

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The deal: The Canucks traded Eddie Lack to the Hurricanes for a third-round pick (No. 66) in the 2015 draft and a seventh-round pick in the 2016 draft.

Career numbers: 34-30-9, 2.43 GAA, .917 save percentage

About the deal: Considering the going rate for unproven backups Robin Lehner and Cam Talbot, acquiring Lack for a third-round and seventh-round pick is quite the steal for the Hurricanes, who need all the help they can get in net.

Lack is set to make just $1.15 million next season and will be a UFA next summer. Cam Ward and his career .910 save percentage will almost surely be allowed to walk after the season, which means the Hurricanes may have landed their starting goaltender for the next few seasons for next to nothing.

"Obviously Cam Ward has won a Cup and has been playing great for a lot of years down in Carolina," Lack said, per NHL.com, ignoring that Ward hasn't had a save percentage higher than .910 the past three seasons. "It will be a good place for me, I feel like. We are going to push each other and hopefully achieve some great results together."

Lack is still somewhat unproven, but he had a .921 save percentage in 41 games last season. This is a low-risk, high-reward gamble by the Hurricanes.