2 Teams Emerge As Top Trade Destinations For Ducks' Gibson

Another season has almost passed with the Anaheim Ducks' starting goalie's prime years of his career being wasted away on one of the worst teams in the NHL. It has now been four seasons since John Gibson was putting together elite seasons for a Ducks team that was very good. He has suffered through years of a rebuild now and it has really impacted his numbers.

The Ducks may have thought they were going to be able to come out of a rebuild sooner, but it appears as though they still have at least a couple of years left before there's hope. Most of Gibson's prime will have been wasted if he sticks it out through the long rebuild as he has four years remaining on his $6.4 million AAV deal and will be 30 at the start of next season.

There are two teams who could be in the market for a goaltender just like Gibson who can win the team games and is signed for an ideal number of years. Dan Rosen said that the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres could both make sense as potential destinations.

The Penguins have a small window left to win with their core and their starter Tristan Jarry is without a contract for next season. Either he could choose to move on to a team on the rise, or the Penguins may not trust in the performance and health of Jarry to help them get to the top of the mountain one more time. If Jarry is also signed to a new deal, the timetables won't match up and he would be stuck as a rebuilding team's starter for a number of years.

As for the Sabres, they don't have much trust in Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and are likely going to be moving on from him. Eric Comrie is rather inexperienced still, while who knows how many years left 41-year-old Craig Anderson has. The team also has Devon Levi, and although he will get some games this season, he may not be ready for the NHL just yet. The Sabres are on the rise and may just be a solid goaltender away from competing. Gibson can be that for them and it would clear up a big question mark Buffalo has had.