16 years ago today, one of the worst trades in Maple Leafs history took place
On this day 16 years ago, Leafs GM John Ferguson Jr. made the decision to trade the recently drafted Tuukka Rask to Boston for Calder Trophy winning goaltender Andrew Raycroft. At the time, JFJ thought he had two «franchise» goaltenders in the system as the Leafs also had junior stud Justin Pogge.
Ferguson chose Pogge as the Leafs' goalie of the future and boy oh boy did he ever bet on the wrong horse. Raycroft didn't last two seasons in Toronto. His first season, while he did win 37 games, he posted a horrific .894 save percentage and a 2.99 goals against average. His second season didn't go any better.. in fact, it went worse. He posted just 2 wins with a .876 save percentage and a 3.92 GAA in 19 games before he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche.
The «franchise» goalie JFJ thought he had in Justin Pogge didn't pan out either. Pogge played just 7 games for the Leafs, posting a 4.36 GAA and .844 save percentage. Rask, on the other hand, looks to be on a Hall of Fame Ballot in the years to come. Not only is he the Bruins leader in most goalie categories and won a Stanley Cup as backup to Tim Thomas in 2011.
JFJ and management set the Leafs back years and as much as I was never a fan of the deal, I'm glad it was made because we may have never ended up with the "Core 4" we have now and wouldn't have just witnessed possibly the greatest single season performance in Leafs franchise history from Auston Matthews, who ironically enough, was drafted on this day back in 2016.
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