Raanta Claus is Coming!

The Chicago Blackhawks are a team that is going to be in a precarious position this summer. Every notable and random Oilers blogger want to see the Oilers go for Brent Seabrook but here’s the problem, three of their six defencemen are UFAs (Oduya, Roszival, Timonen) and the other, David Runblad, is an RFA. Leaving Seabrook, Duncan Keith and Niklas Hjalmarsson remaining. Even though Brent Seabrook only has one year remaining, there’s no need to trade him even if they’re going to be hard up to the cap. Trevor Van Riemsdyk and Ville Pokka are NHL ready too. So trying to pick off one of their core defensemen is a non-starter for me.

Okay then, let’s move to the forwards because surely someone of note is going to have to move there to be cap compliant. Yes and no.

Brad Richards, Andrew Desjardins and Antoine Vermette are UFAs but Patrick Sharp and Andrew Shaw can play center. Teuvo Teravainen and Artemy Panarin will be full time NHLers next season as well with Mark McNeil looking primed to earn a spot in training camp. They’ll need to find a way to get Brandon Saad and Marcus Kruger under contract but I can’t see there being much of an issue there.

Slim pickings eh? Let’s discuss Antti Raanta’s future though.

Raanta is smallish goalie with a great positional game. Has excellent agility and quickness, and is a fierce competitor.
– Ulf Andersson, EP (2013)

Here’s a guy that was playing lights out but was demoted in favor of Scott Darling (and his minimal salary cap hit) then went to the AHL and continued to play well and I love that about him. The more competitive players there are on the roster, the better in my opinion. We don’t hear about fights in practise anymore you know. It’s like the players are suffice to move with the tide and adapt only when need be.

According to this Chicago Sun Times article Raanta was on the trade block at the deadline and the Oilers were rumored to be in on him. The suspected offer was Jeff Petry and a 3rd round pick. I guess the Blackhawks aren’t convinced that the Finnish netminder is the right man for them. He has one year left on his contract at 750k before he becomes an unrestricted free agent.

Players that are pending free agents tend to do a bit better in the final year of their contract for whatever reason and I’d be willing to take a flyer on Antti Raanta. His contract is more than affordable and his playing history is no worse than Ben Scrivens’ or Viktor Fasth’s when they were acquired.

I think one question we have to ask ourselves is where the team’s money would be better utilized? Would the Oilers be better off going the Capitals’ route and sinking big bucks into their defence or would it be best to sign a proven goalie from the UFA market like Niemi?

The unpredictability of goaltenders tempts me to lean towards the former rather than the latter. I’d much rather spend hard cash on a good veteran NHL blueliner than a goalie I’m not sure about. I mean if we’re gambling here, I’d rather put down a cheap bet with the potential for a high return and it’s not like Raanta doesn’t have the pedigree as his numbers back him up. Raanta isn’t even a gamble if you consider that he’s only got a year left on his deal. If he didn’t pan out what is lost? Scrivens is would still be around and a new crop of free agents as well.

I mean think about it, if the Oilers upgraded the defence and had a solid goaltending tandem whose cap hit was $3.5m/yr, would than not be gold? If they didn’t upgrade the defence that might be a different story all together and it could be just me but I’d rather be saddled with Nikitin and his contract than say Cam Ward’s.

So I think the whole deal is contingent on whether the Oilers beef up their blueline a bit and get rid of the question marks there. If they can do that and pick up Raanta for one of their 2nd round picks, I think that would be a good investment. How about you?

Thanks for reading and please let me know if you agree with my sentiments regarding Antti Raanta and the Chicago Blackhawks.

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I can’t wait to get next season underway with Chiarelli, McLellan, McDavid, and Nurse coming in! Glorious days ahead!

Happy New Coach Day everyone!