Canucks grant goaltender permission to talk to other teams about a potential fit
Last night, after accepting his qualifying offer from the Vancouver Canucks, 23-year-old Abbotsford Canucks goaltender Michael DiPietro was granted permission by the Canucks to speak with other teams to help facilitate a trade.
DiPietro is one of five Canucks goaltenders under NHL contract next season along with Thatcher Demko, Spencer Martin, Collin Delia and Arturs Silovs. Demko is the Canucks starter and Spencer Martin is expected to be his backup, leaving three goalies fighting for ice time in Abbotsford. Martin has also taken massive strides and could overtake DiPietro this summer.
In 34 games with Abbotsford last season DiPietro posted a 15-13-4 record with a .901 save percentage. Over his brief, 3 year career DiPietro has played in 3 games for the Canucks, all losses posting a miserable save percentage of .771.
With the Leafs hiring former Canucks goalie coach Curtis Sanford, could DiPietro find himself in Toronto soon too? DiPietro has worked with Sanford at points during his time in Vancouver and with the Leafs revamping their entire goaltending department- also bringing in Jon Elkin, DiPietro could revitalize his career. His AHL numbers have been pretty good in three seasons posting a career .908 save percentage in the AHL.
The only issue is that the Leafs also have a crowded crease with Ilya Samsonov and Matt Murray in the NHL and Joseph Woll and Erik Kallgren in the AHL. However, Woll does not appear like he will be ready for the start of the season so there could be an opportunity for the 23-year-old DiPietro to earn some playing time.
