Insider Elliotte Friedman Says Teams To Be 'Looking Hard' At These 2 Goalies If They Hit Waivers

"There will be teams this week (that are) curious to see" what happens with goaltenders who are on the bubble for their clubs as rosters get trimmed down as we get closer to opening night.

In fact, said insider Elliotte Friedman on his 32 Thoughts podcast, "I have no doubt that teams will be looking hard" at these two in particular:

I think this week is gonna be one of the more interesting weeks on the waiver wire to see which goalies get there and when... There's at least two goalies who may go on waivers this week...I'm really curious to see—do they pass through (waivers)? Do they get traded beforehand? And those goalies are Michael DiPietro and Clay Stevenson.

Both respective teams are set with their 1-2 tandems in the crease—Jeremy Swayman and Joonas Korpisalo for the Boston Bruins, and Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren with the Washington Capitals—and what's unknown is if either team wants to go with a 3rd goalie, or try to get those names through waivers this week.

Friedman believes that the two-year deal ($812.5K cap hit) the Bruins signed DiPietro to this summer could scare teams off from claiming him.

As for Stevenson, he also has two years to run on his deal ($775K cap hit). Friedman suggests that it could be hard to sneak him through waivers, "and I could see (them) being a little nervous."

DiPietro, 26, has had back-to-back excellent seasons for the Providence Bruins of the AHL. Last year, he posted a .927 save percentage and a 2.05 goals-against average with a 26-8-5 mark. He has started three NHL games for the Vancouver Canucks, the last time being in 2021-22.

Stevenson, 26, started one game for the Caps last season, but they allowed him to get shell-shocked, facing a ton of rubber. He made 33 stops on 38 shots on the final day of the regular season. In the AHL, with the Hershey Bears, he went 18-8-4 with a 2.94 GAA and .888 Sv%.