Evgeni Nabokov: 5 NHL Teams That Should Nab Nabby Before the Detroit Red Wings

Evgeni Nabokov didn't deserve his fate this past offseason.

He had played a great 10-year career in which he had gone 293-178 in net for the San Jose Sharks with a .912 save percentage, 2.39 GAA and 50 shutouts. He led the Sharks to the playoffs in eight of his nine seasons as a starter and was coming off a sensational season, maybe the best of his career.

After the Sharks were eliminated by Antti Niemi and Chicago in the Conference Finals, Nabokov's contract was up. The elite goalie Nabokov sat and watched as lesser-known goalies duked it out for the Stanley Cup.

He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

In sports, unsuccessful teams follow successful trends. As high-profile, high-paid goalies like Nabby, Martin Brodeur, Ryan Miller and Roberto Luongo got outplayed by relative no-names in the 2010-11 playoffs, GMs around the league decided, almost collectively, that money would be better spent elsewhere than goalie in a salary-capped league.

With Jaroslav Halak coming off gigantic playoff performances, keying Montreal's upsets over Washington and Pittsburgh, Halak was the only goalie on the market considered a hot commodity. While teams either bid on Halak or hoped to find cheaper goalies who had that "it" about them, that special switch that would click on for 16 wins in the spring, the best goalie on the entire market, Evgeni Nabokov, was frozen out.

The Sharks opted to sign Patrick Marleau to a deal that put them too near the cap to afford Nabby. They later picked up Antti Niemi as his replacement.

No one wanted to pay him starting goalie money, and Nabby decided to go play in his home country of Russia rather than take a small contract and go somewhere where a starting job wasn't guaranteed.

But he stopped playing in the KHL back in December, and he has reached a deal with the Red Wings.

Before he is signed officially, however, all 29 other NHL teams can claim him off waivers, starting with the league's worst team.

Multiple teams with goalie issues may realize that if they don't claim Nabby now, they will either have to trade for a quality goalie or be stuck with what they have the rest of the season.

With that being said, here are the five teams that should strongly consider nabbing Nabokov.

Washington Capitals

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SUNRISE, FL - JANUARY 11: Goaltender Michal Neuvirth #30 of the Washington Capitals warms up prior to the game against the Florida Panthers on January 11, 2011 at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)

While Michal Neuvirth hasn't been bad, he hasn't looked great either. The Capitals have no reason to strip him of his starting job, as he's been fairly consistent despite inconsistent playing time, but bringing in a talented, experienced vet could certainly motivate Neuvirth to step it up.

If the Capitals are indeed following the Hawks/Flyers goalie blueprint, then they should note that neither Niemi nor Michael Leighton was the No. 1 guy early in the season. Given this, Nabokov may in fact fit this blueprint more—he will be fresher than any other playoff goalie.

If Neuvirth is the goalie going forward, he could certainly stand to learn from a guy like Nabokov, and if his play is less than satisfactory, having a guy like Nabby in net this postseason is a great backup plan.

Colorado Avalanche

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DENVER, CO - JANUARY 20: Goalie Craig Anderson #41 of the Colorado Avalanche puts on his mask as he defends the goal against the Nashville Predators at the Pepsi Center on January 20, 2011 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

While the Avalanche pour in the goals offensively, keeping the puck out of their own net has been a challenge all year. While the entire defense is to blame, Craig Anderson has hit a month-long snag, and backup Peter Budaj has looked mediocre-to-bad all year.

If Anderson continues to struggle, the Avs simply need a better No. 2 option than Budaj, and if it comes down to it, they may need a better No. 1 than Anderson.

The potential of a fresh, top-tier goalie in the playoffs should tantalize any team, but especially a team that will be improved even if Nabby proves to be nothing more than a serviceable backup.

Florida Panthers

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BUFFALO, NY - DECEMBER 23: Tomas Vokoun #29 of the Florida Panthers makes a save against the Buffalo Sabres at HSBC Arena on December 23, 2010 in Buffalo, New York. Florida won 4-3. (Photo by Rick Stewart/Getty Images)

Tomas Vokoun is a top three goalie in this league. He makes an otherwise weak Florida team an average one and could turn an average team into a contender.

Florida has no chance of going anywhere anytime soon, and trading Vokoun for young talent would be the right thing to do for both parties concerned.

Panthers management is smart enough to know that their team would likely plummet in the standings with a pedestrian goalie in net. They also should know that trading away their star and having the team drop lots of games as a result is not an acceptable scenario, especially considering their already shaky fan support.

The Panthers would need to find a way to keep playing .500 hockey and stay in the race without Vokoun, and Evgeni Nabokov would be their best option. He is also a big name around the league, and that alone would keep some fans around after the inevitable alienating effect trading Vokoun would have.

Los Angeles Kings

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DALLAS, TX - JANUARY 17: Goalie Jonathan Bernier #45 of the Los Angeles Kings during play against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on January 17, 2011 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

The Kings with Jonathan Quick in goal are a completely different team than the Kings when Jonathan Bernier is in the the net. Quick is 18-14-1 with a .918 save percentage and 2.20 GAA. Bernier is 5-8-0 with a .893 save percentage and 3.08 GAA.

After 72 starts last year, Quick was too tired come playoff time and played very poorly in the Kings' first-round loss to Vancouver. As a result, Quick is getting more rest this year.

However, the Kings are not in a playoff spot due to recent struggles, and gaining ground with Bernier making 10 more starts is very unlikely.

Quick is excellent, and his job is not in jeopardy; he just desperately needs a reliable backup.

Tampa Bay Lightning

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PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 05: Dan Ellis #33 of the Tampa Bay Lightning replaces Dwayne Roloson #35 in net against the Pittsburgh Penguins on January 5, 2011 at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

Up until their acquisition of Dwayne Roloson three weeks ago, Tampa Bay was the team in the league most blatantly in need of goaltending help.

Roloson is a major upgrade over Dan Ellis and Mike Smith, and is plenty good enough to carry Tampa Bay into the playoffs. But anyone who believes that the 41 year old has any chance of having enough in the tank to win 16 games this spring is simply fooling themselves.

Despite making the biggest goaltending move of the season so far, Tampa Bay still remains as the only team shooting for a cup who doesn't have a guy in net with a realistic chance of taking them there. This would make them the team most in need of a guy like Nabokov, but the signing would be more of a risk here than with one of the other four teams: at best, a fresh, motivated Nabby carries them to a cup. If Nabby is rusty, however, the Lightning all of a sudden have 4 goalies making starting goalie money, none of whom being the guy they want.