The Edmonton Oilers have a new No. 1 netminder, acquiring Dwayne Roloson from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for a first-round pick in this June's Entry Draft and a conditional draft pick.
The conditional pick is a third rounder if Roloson re-signs with Edmonton.
"It was simple, the value was there in making the deal," said Wild GM Doug Risebrough, referring to the first-round draft choice. "It was a difficult trade to make so Kevin had to understand that the value was going to have to be more, even if it would have been less had I moved him somewhere else."
The Wild were rumoured to be shopping off one of their goalies, and Roloson was the odd man out after the team re-signed Fernandez to a multi-year contract last week.
"I think it means that they think they can win the Cup," Roloson's agent Mark Witkin said from Boston.
The Wild helped the Oilers despite being only seven points behind Edmonton for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Roloson, 36, is 6-17 this season with a 3.00 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage. A veteran of 269 games, Roloson played in 162 matches over the course of the past four seasons with the Wild and was a Western Conference All-Star in 2004.
The move comes just hours after Mike Morrison was put on waivers by the the Oilers.
Morrison was put on waivers one day after failing to stop a shot during the shootout in loss to the Dallas Stars. Ty Conklin started the game, but was pulled in favour of Morrison for the shootout. Morrison gave up goals to Sergei Zubov and Jussi Jokinen as the Oilers fell 4-3 to Dallas.
Conklin was visibly upset about being pulled.
"I don't make the decisions," said Conklin. "I would have made a different one."
"There are a lot of teams looking for one more save a night," said Oilers coach Craig MacTavish after the loss on Tuesday. "We're one of them."
Roloson was one of many goaltenders whose name has been mentioned in trade talks, along with Florida's Roberto Luongo, Phoenix's Curtis Joseph and Buffalo's Martin Biron.
But if the Sabres do trade a goaltender before the deadline, it's likely to be Mika Noronen, not Biron.
Sources say the Sabres have informed teams that the only goalie they are entertaining trade offers on is the Finnish netminder.
Numbers Game: Roloson, 36, arrived in Minnesota in 2001 as pretty much a journeyman goaltender, but he established himself in three-plus seasons with the Wild, posting a career-best 1.88 goals against average and .933 save percentage in 2003-2004.
However, after a year off, Roloson has struggled this year. Despite playing behind the same defence as partner Manny Fernandez (who has a 2.23 goals against average and .922 save percentage), Roloson has a goals against average of 3.00 with a .910 save percentage. Worse, his 6-17 record this season makes it a risky proposition to suddenly hand him the goaltending reins of a playoff contender like the Oilers.
It's not all bad, however. Roloson is an upgrade on the the Oilers' current goaltending situation and, with Jussi Markkanen in the backup role, the Oilers should be able to hang on to a playoff spot, and Roloson should be able to put up some wins over the final 20 games, even though his other numbers may suffer playing behind the more freewheeling Oilers.
A free agent at season's end, Roloson's $1.672-million contract won't be a problem this year and, if all goes well and Roloson finishes the season strong, he might re-sign with the Oilers for a reasonable rate.
In Minnesota, the departure of Roloson only solidifies Fernandez's hold on the number one job, and could result in a promotion for promising Josh Harding, who was a second-round pick of the Wild in 2002, has been stellar with Houston in the AHL this year, posting a 27-8 record, 2.64 goals against average and .923 save percentage. If Harding moves into the backup role, he could be positioned to be the long-term successor to Fernandez, who recently signed a multi-year deal.
The first-round pick the Oilers surrendered in the deal (along with the conditional third-rounder) is a reasonably steep price. In the last five drafts, for example, the 18th pick (the Oilers' current position) has yielded Ryan Parent, Kyle Chipchura, Eric Fehr, Denis Grebeshkov and Brooks Orpik.