SEASON'S END IS NEAR With the season winding down and A majority of fantasy pools in playoff mode, it is time to take a look at next season and project possible bargain goaltenders that could possibly give you better bang for your buck.  Also, this will be the last BETWEEN THE PIPES feature article for this season.  So, let’s take a look at some net minders you may want to take a chance on for next season and which ones may be as good as they have been. It is probably safe to say that Minnesota got themselves a gem in Devan Dubnyk with the way he has settled in as their starter.  The only problem is that Dubnyk will be an Unrestricted Free Agent (UFA) come July 1st unless signed to a deal.  You know what usually happens to players who sign long-term contracts either via free agency or staying with their existing clubs?  Their performance seems to tail off once they land the big bucks.  Another thing that Dubnyk doesn’t have going for him is that he hasn’t proven on a consistent basis that he is a quality NHL starting goaltender or perhaps, now that he will 29 years of age come May, he has finally matured.  Minnesota still has Niklas Backstrom and Darcy Kuemper signed for another year, so something will need to be done during the off-season.  And for those wondering about Josh Harding, he will become an UFA at season’s end.  Enjoy the performance for the remainder of this year, and monitor where he ends up next season, but don’t expect the same numbers, they rarely repeat themselves. Dubnyk has a few years of experience behind him but others like Andrew Hammond have unexpectedly taken the NHL by storm.  Hammond was pressed into action by the Ottawa Senators when both of their starters, Craig Anderson & Robin Lehner, went down to injury, prompting the Senators to dig into their farm system and bring up Hammond who wasn’t particularly worthy of a call up with the way he was performing.  But stranger things have happened before and they will in the future.  All Hammond has done is put the club on his back and bring them to within earshot of a playoff berth with a 10-0-1 record.  Given his minor league stats, this is probably just an aberration and shouldn’t be taken seriously past this season.  Hammond will try to parlay his performance into a nice contract being that he is a Restricted Free Agent (RFA), but as the Senators have their two starters locked up in multi-year deals, there doesn’t seem to be a spot for Hammond on the big club.  What can there be said about Cam Talbot that hasn’t been expressed everywhere else?  The Rangers hopes of locking down a high playoff spot looked lost when Henrik Lundqvist was sidelined for 4 weeks with a neck injury but all Talbot has done is lift the Rangers to not only the top of the Metropolitan division, but also the Eastern Conference and the entire NHL.  The Rangers are probably so glad that they signed the backup to a 1-year extension in late December ensuring that he wouldn’t hit the open market in July.  Henrik is still the ‘King on Broadway’ but fans can be rest assured that if something happened to their elite goaltender, Talbot is ready to step in and the club shouldn’t miss a beat on their way to what they hope is a Stanley Cup title. It’s amazing what the Anaheim Ducks have done with two relatively inexperienced goalkeepers in Frederik Andersen and John Gibson.  They have been at or near the top of the Western Conference since day 1 of the season and there doesn’t appear to be any letting up at this point in time.  The only question is, ‘will the inexperience catch up to them in the long playoff run?’  Both goaltenders have shown flashes of brilliance and Cam Ward has proven that a rookie goaltender, when hot, can bring the Stanley Cup home.  Gibson sure has the pedigree and the Ducks have the talent in front of either starter, but inexperience in a long post-season can be a determining factor like so many times before.  Heading into next season, it certainly looks like it will be Gibson’s job as it may have well been this season if not for an early season injury.  Gibson’s future is bright so don’t forget the sunglasses. It appears that every team’s goaltending is settled on going forward except for the Edmonton Oilers who can’t seem to get a stronghold on that position.  This year’s combination of Ben Scrivens and Viktor Fasth failed miserably, proving the prior year’s starter, Devan Dubnyk, wasn’t to blame.  The defense needs to be shored up in front of whoever will be in net for the Oil next season. Perhaps the Rangers, who have been good trading partners with Edmonton in the past, will parlay Talbot’s performance into a Nail Yakupov or some other young talent.  Perhaps they can package Talbot, some other young talent and grab one of the top three picks of this year’s NHL Entry Draft.  Now that would be something for Ranger fans to wish for. It’s never too late to start thinking about next year, and with some team’s goaltending appearing to be in some sort of disarray come the end of the playoffs, change is always on the horizon.  Just keep in a mind that a goaltender is only as good as the defense in front of him, so monitor team’s actions before deciding on what goaltender you want to take a chance on. I had a lot of fun writing the BETWEEN THE PIPES piece and hope that you enjoyed it as much as I like writing them.  We will be back next season with some more goalie pieces but keep checking back on the website as we will continue to post throughout the remainder of this season, the playoffs and the off-season.  Good luck in your playoff pools and see you next year!