The Lightning have traded veteran goaltender Evgeni Nabokov to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for “future considerations”. He was placed on waivers by the Lightning last week and assigned to the Syracuse Crunch. However, he was granted permission to take time to consider his options and was said to be considering retirement. As a result, he never actually reported to Syracuse. This move would allow him to retire as a member of the organization with whom he played 563 of his 697 NHL games and with whom he won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2001.
The Lightning acquired Nabokov during the offseason to serve as Ben Bishop’s backup and to fill time until goaltending prospects Andrei Vasilevskiy or Kristers Gudlevskis were proven ready to play at the NHL level. The 39-year-old native of Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan played in 11 games with the Lightning this season, posting a 3-6-2 record with a .882 save percentage and a 2.44 goals-against average. Over his career, he put together a career record of 353-227-29-71 with a .911 save percentage, 2.44 goals-against average and 59 shutouts and is ranked 18th all-time in the NHL for wins, 17th for shutouts and 25th for games played.
Specific terms of what “future considerations” the Lightning can expect in return have not been announced.
