Elliotte Friedman with the latest on Jack Campbell
The Toronto Maple Leafs and fan favourite Jack Campbell have a lot of things to figure out and not a lot of time to do so. We are now just 3 and a half weeks out from the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, which is set to take place on July 7th and 8th in Montreal, PQ, and when last we heard about the Leafs and Jack Campbell, they had not yet begun contract talks.
Well, some unfortunate news to report on that front, as Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman has confirmed that Campbell's agent, Kurt Overhardt, and Leafs GM Kyle Dubas have still not had any contract talks. Perhaps Dubas, Shanahan and the coaching staff are still waiting for some clarity on who the next goalie coach will be in Toronto before opening talks. As you may have heard, the Leafs have decided this week not to renew the contract of goalie coach Steve Briere, who had been with the team for the past 7 seasons.
I don't envy Jack Campbell at the moment. Just a few weeks ago, Soupy was quoted as saying that he loves being a Leaf, he loves the city of Toronto and that he loves his teammates. With no talks having occurred, I'd imagine the seat he's in is getting pretty hot at the moment.
It has been reported that the Leafs could be looking at potentially allowing Campbell to walk in free agency, trading Petr Mrazek and starting fresh with two new goaltenders this fall. One has to wonder whether or not Campbell is going to get anxious and inform his agent to move things along with the Leafs, even if they have to lower their asking price.
Per TSN's Chris Johnston earlier this week, the Leafs could be aiming for 2 goalies in the $1M-$2M range, as opposed to spending big on a starter and small on a backup. Obviously, Campbell is not going to come in at $2M - but if he was amenable to taking the Petr Mrazek deal (3 years at $3.8M per season), I'd imagine that Dubas and company would have more than a mild interest in that idea. The question is, would Campbell and agent Kurt Overhardt be prepared to go that low? I highly doubt it.
| POLL | ||
JUIN 11 | 743 ANSWERS Elliotte Friedman with the latest on Jack Campbell If Jack Campbell is not back this summer and the Leafs decide to go bargain bin shopping, who should they sign? | ||
| Ville Husso | 252 | 33.9 % |
| Mikko Koskinen | 66 | 8.9 % |
| Braden Holtby | 219 | 29.5 % |
| Other | 206 | 27.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
