Philipp Grubauer

Tough to say. I think they would if the return is really really good. Because if they trade Grubauer and Holtby gets hurt for some reason Caps would be boned. And let's face it, Caps are the unluckiest team on the planet, somehow Holtby would get hurt once Gru is traded.

Samsonov is going to be en elite goaltender but he won't be ready when he comes over after his KHL season. Will probably need at least an AHL season under his belt.

Only if a team offers us a massive return. We saw what happened with Pittsburgh last year (and this year), and how important it is to have a quality backup. He's one of the best backups in the league, and if Holtby gets hurt, I don't trust Copley to handle a large load.

I still think we should have capitalized on an Arizona trade before they went and overpaid for Raanta. I'd be patient until someone offers something good, mainly look at the trade deadline and at the draft.

Not likely. His save percentage has been roughly in Holtby territory. Until Copley or Vancek shows similar ability to serve as a legitimte NHL starter, trading Grubauer just opens up need for a goalie. He could very easily be traded at the draft, depending on what kind of contracts he and Carlson demand, and where the salary cap ends up. All this season starting in the AHL and all next season as an NHL backup should be enough for one of Copley or Vanecek to start the '19 playoffs as a confident backup, and the other to establish himself as a very good AHLer.

Samsonov is having a weak year, so far, this season. Hopefully he comes back, but with Grubauer winning his last couple games, if I had to trade one of them right now, it's Samsonov.

Season Team Lge GP Min GA EN SO GAA W L T Svs Pct
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014-15 Magnitogorsk Metallurg KHL 1 21 2 0 0 5.50 0 0 0 2 0.500
2015-16 Magnitogorsk Metallurg KHL 19 853 29 0 2 2.04 6 4 3 357 0.925
2016-17 Magnitogorsk Metallurg KHL 27 1128 40 0 2 2.13 15 3 5 589 0.936
2017-18 Magnitogorsk Metallurg KHL 17 816 39 0 1 2.87 6 6 1 389 0.909

(HockeyDB http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/viewastext.php?3c82353a=1bf4fb6c&pid=180628)