Lightning To Look To Waiver Wire For Goaltending Help

The Tampa Bay Lightning got hit with some hard news during the preseason. Andrei Vasilevskiy, their franchise goaltender, will be out for a couple of months to start the season recovering. This has left the team in a very vulnerable spot as their internal options to fill the role are Jonas Johansson, Matt Tomkins, and Hugo Alnefelt. They have to turn outside the organization for any sort of help.

The Lightning do have options. They could sign a remaining free agent, make a trade, or pick up a goalie on waivers. The last seems the most viable as Luke Fox of Sportsnet noted that it is expected that the Lightning turn to the waiver wire to try to find a replacement for their injured starter.

We've seen a few players picked up off of waivers already, including goaltender Spencer Martin by the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Lightning are in a tough spot to trade for anyone because they have to think about the very limited cap they have once Vasilevskiy returns to action. Tampa Bay has turned to veteran backups for the past number of years and more was to be desired. There are still some solid goaltenders headed through waivers, and the Lightning are going to have to grab one of them. Who? That remains to be seen in the coming few days.