Vancouver Canucks goalie Dan Cloutier will be out 4+ months after opting to have knee surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee. (TSN STORY)

Now, the bandwagon yuppie fans are all in a tizzy (When they aren't worrying about what the latest cell phone fashions are) and there about going to be a steaming pile of big rumours flying around (“Bertuzzi for Luongo!”), but I think this could end up as a blessing in disguise.

This season, Alex Auld has come from behind Cloutier’s shadow and established himself as a steady goaltender with good fundamentals and the ability to stop the puck. This is in relation to Dan Cloutier, who is fundamentally weak and not very good at stopping the puck.

Dan Clouter – 13GP 8-3-1 3.17GAA 89.2SV%
Alex Auld – 20GP 11-6-1 2.58GAA 90.9%SV

Alex earned another victory last night against the red-hot Rangers, and I think he’s got the pedigree and ability to take over the reigns from Cloutier on a full-time basis.

Still, I know Auld hasn’t proven himself over the long term, and the Canucks do need to get someone better behind him. Maxime Ouellet and Rob McVicar scare their own teams more than opposing shooters.

With the Canucks so close to the salary cap as it is (barely squeaking under thanks to call-ups), and with so few tradable assets in the development system, how the Canucks possibly get a good goaltender to play behind Auld?

I just can’t see GM Dave Nonis breaking up the team as it is, given at how this is Canuckville’s best shot at the cup for some time, so I believe he will be conservative and try to search for a cheap option that can play a decent load of games in a 1b or 2A role. I just don’t see a Luongo/Bertuzzi deal, as much as I’d love to have Luongo.

So, what’s available to the Canucks? Cloutier’s salary is $2.5mil, so the Canucks have the pro-rated amount of that available since Clouts will be on the DL for the rest of the regular season. We have to remember that many teams are still in the playoff hunt or believe they are in the hunt, and that other clubs will likely want someone decent and useful in return for a goalie.

As Spector notes:

Spector's Note: Cloutier's injury explains why the club recently signed a minor league goalie [Sebastien Centomo]. The salary cap is the main stumbling block for Nonis. I'm sure he'd love to acquire a goaltending stud like Luongo, but the only way he can do that is to give up comparable salary or shed enough salaries to fit in the netminder's contract, and that might mean cutting depth elsewhere to do it. Like McKenzie I expect Nonis to stick with Auld whilst keeping his eye peeled for a potentially affordable veteran, but if Auld proves capable of carrying the mail, he could stick with the backup until Cloutier returns.

I won’t create rumours, but here are some thoughts…

1. Martin Prusek – Recently waived by Columbus, Prusek is a talented Hasek-wannabe and had better that than Patrick Lalime while playing in Ottawa (OK, that isn’t saying much). A salary of $625,000 is cheap and Prusek could easily handle a good workload and provide quality goaltending.

2. David Aebischer – at $1.9mil, he’s not a great bargain but he could play a lion’s share of games. The Avalanche have obviously grown weary of his shaky goaltending, but perhaps a chance of scenery could help David rediscover his game. 89.0SV% in 19 games.

3. Kevin Weekes – This name alone is enough to scare Canucks fans. With the evil Swede Lundquist getting the #1 duties in Gotham, the Rangers may be more than happy to dump Weekes and his $1.9 salary. Weekes played fairly well when giving #1 duties in Carolina, and I wouldn’t feel nervous with him as a part of a duo with Auld.

4. Roman Cechmanek – OK, stop laughing. Roman is a free agent playing in Czechia, and you know no other club would claim him on waivers if the Canucks wanted to sign him. Yeah, I know this will never happen, but sometimes drastic situations require some creative solutions. Sign Roman to a moderate deal and grab some Maalox.

5. Stick with Auld and pray that whoever is behind him doesn’t suck. If the Canucks can’t find any outside help within a decent cost range, it may be time to give Auld a large chunk of games and hope Centomo or Ouellet or McVicar can play above ECHL level in goal on some nights. Given how Auld tired near the end of last season with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, I somehow doubt that GM Dave Nonis will just do nothing.

6. Patrick Lalime - Dear god, NO!

In any event, I am looking forward to the Alex Auld Era. I hope he can continue his fine play and show Canuckville that he, and not Cloutier, should be the #1 man permanently.