I want to hedge my bets and pickup one of these old guys in case Varly or Duby falters this year. I see both of these teams having a pretty similar record and don't see much to differentiate their situations. Thanks, looking forward to being active in this forum.
Welcome to the boards Oilblood, I hope you do become an active member on here!
Two perspectives here:
1. Grab Giguere as insurance in case Varlamov gets injured, as I definitely think Colorado will be a much better team than Edmonton will be.
2. Grab Khabibulin as insurance in the event that he splits starts with Dubnyk. "Gotlaid" on these forums (Ryan Ma) has some interesting stats to show that Khabibulin typically does better in contract years.
Goalie situations are extremely tough to predict. I would personally take a gamble that Varlamov stays healthy and starts a handful of more games (maybe between 55-60)...and go with Khabibulin.
Giguere seems content being a backup and signed a one year extension beyond this year. Bulin on the other hand could be traded at some point and receive more starts elsewhere. I just think Bulin still has the starter mentality and offers more upside moving forward.
I'd have to say Khabibulin as well. I think Varlamov will be much more comfortable this year so barring injury (while likely) I think he'll take the majority of starts.
As others have stated, Khabibulin will push for those starts, so I would lean towards taking him.