Did Jeff Marek's comments on Hockey Night in Canada reveal something about Jack Campbell?
By now, most of Leafs Nation has heard the news relating to Leafs backup goaltender Petr Mrazek. In case you missed it, Sportsnet's Jeff Marek had reported that Mrazek is expected to finish the season in Toronto and that, while other teams have reached out to the Leafs about his potential availability this season, he is not being shopped and that "all goalie decisions" for the Leafs will happen in the summer.
The way he worded the last part was pretty telling of where the Leafs are at with the Jack Campbell negotiations, which is certainly concerning. After all, any possibility of Campbell walking away as a free agent, however minute, is definitely not something the Leafs can afford to have happen.
Campbell has experienced a bit of a slip in overall performance of late, perhaps due to the abundance of games that he has played while Mrazek has been dealing with injury this season. To be honest, even when Mrazek has been healthy enough to play, his performances have not exactly given the coaching staff any confidence in being able to offer him more starts to help provide Campbell with some much needed rest.
"Soupy" was once in the top 5 in every major goaltending metric. He has slipped down the list of late, but still owns a very impressive 2.26 GAA, .926 SV% and 20-6-3 record this season. If there ever was a time to try to come to terms on a new deal, this is it - at least from the Leafs' perspective.
Marek's comments are certainly open to interpretation. He could very well have been talking about Mrazek and only Mrazek, but his choice of words certainly made it seem as though the Leafs would delay any goaltending decisions until after the playoffs have concluded.
Personally, if this is the plan, I think it's a huge mistake. There are a few reasons for this. First, if Campbell goes on a run or wins the Vezina Trophy, his asking price will be astronomical. Second, if Campbell goes cold and the Leafs decide to walk away and pursue other opportunities, I could see Campbell signing elsewhere and returning to form, because.. well.. the Leafs. Finally, if Campbell stays the course but can't reach a deal that works for all parties, he may end up walking away the same way that Zach Hyman and Frederik Andersen just did last offseason.
I see no real benefits to waiting to get something done. Maybe I'm just overthinking this, but I'd much prefer that Campbell be extended sooner than later, because the phrase "good things come to those who wait" doesn't always ring true.
