Alex Auld doesn’t spend much time in one place these days.
Now officially a journeyman netminder, having played for seven teams since 2006, the Thunder Bay native began the 2009-10 as a back-up to Marty Turco in Dallas and finished it spelling Henrik Lundqvist on Broadway.
A free-agent-to-be all over again, Auld said he’s OK with his performance, even though he didn’t see much action, posting a 2.95 goals against average in 24 appearances.
"I got to play with two great organizations. My time in Dallas will always be remembered fondly. I felt at home right away from the start. It was a lot of fun playing there. But then you go to New York, which was kind of neat," Auld said recently, back in town for the summer.
"It was a pretty special place to play, with all the history of Madison Square Gardens and the Rangers. Anytime you play for an Original 6 team it’s definitely a great experience."
The Rangers, it’s been well-documented, lost out on the NHL Eastern Conference’s final playoff berth, falling in a final-day shootout to the eventual Cup-finalist Philadelphia Flyers. Had the Rangers won, they would have locked up a spot, and possibly gone on a magical run of their own.
But that’s in the past and the lanky goaltender doesn’t want to play the what if game.
Auld, 29, who sports an 83-82-2 record in 207 career games over eight seasons, isn’t sure what his hockey future holds.
"We’ll see what this summer brings when I’m a free agent. We’ll see what happens on July 1 and see where we end up next year."
Though San Jose’s Evgeni Nabokov is the hands-down No. 1 free agent prize in the goaltending pool this summer, there’s not a lot else out there for teams looking for back-ups.
Other than Auld, the list includes Jose Theodore, Turco, Patrick Lalime, Martin Biron, Joey MacDonald, Curtis Sandford, Antero Nittymaki, Yann Danis and Andrew Raycroft.
Teams believed to be in the hunt for back-ups include Calgary, San Jose and Montreal.
Auld made US$1 million playing this past season.
