4 NHL Playoff Goalies Left Combine For Cheaper Contract Than Jeremy Swayman originally appeared on NESN.
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Michael Felger, host of 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Felger & Mazz,” is currently victory lapping his longstanding belief that having a high-quality goaltender in the NHL does not matter.
Seeing as the Florida Panthers are still the reigning back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions. — and they did so on the back of unbelievable performances from future Hall of Fame goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky — it doesn’t appear that he has much ground to stand on.
But as far as this particular Stanley Cup Playoffs is concerned, Felger is correct to point out that the goaltending pedigree is not through the roof.
“The four goalies left all suck,” Felger said. “Whoever wins the cup will have done it with a crappy goaltender.
“The combined cap hit of the four goaltenders left is $7.2 million. A million dollars less than your guy.”
Felger is, of course, referring to Vezina Trophy finalist Jeremy Swayman’s new $8 million contract.
“One of these four ‘jamokes’ is going to win the Stanley Cup at a fraction of what you’re paying your guy,” Felger said. “In fact, you could have all four of these guys for less than you’re paying Jeremy Swayman!”
Felger takes a victory lap on his take about NHL teams not needing high-paid goaltenders.
Ukko rhymes with Tuukka. Ukko rhymes with Puukka 💩 pic.twitter.com/qHhjBALdzQ
— 98.5 The Sports Hub (@985TheSportsHub) May 19, 2026
His argument is simple: it is not worth paying goaltenders top-end contracts.
As previously mentioned, it feels like a very near-sighted take. I believe the Panthers proved in years past that a goalie can be the centerpiece of a Cup-winning team if the rest of the roster construction is up to par. On the flipside, their opponent in the Stanley Cup Finals, the Edmonton Oilers, proved the counter. Their goalie play was consistently below average, but the combination of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl overpowered teams in the West.
The truth lies somewhere in between, and we all know it. Unshockingly, the best teams, who play the best hockey down the stretch, win the Stanley Cup. It can not simply be boiled down to this team won because this percentage of their cap went to this position group.
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