If the Leafs are going to be spending $5M plus on a goalie, that goalie should not be Jack Campbell
Another year, another playoff elimination in the first round fo the Toronto Maple Leafs. The question that needs answering is, where do the Leafs go from here? The easiest answer is to stay put and build on what is already a great foundation and obviously a phenomenal hockey team, but should Kyle Dubas do that? Will he do that?
The Leafs were an offensive powerhouse this season, with Auston Matthews putting together a 60-goal campaign for the first time in his career, Mitch marner putting up a whopping 97 points, also a career high, and William Nylander put together an 80-point season - you guess it, another career high - and whether you love or hate him, he's a highly skilled and can hang with the best of them offensively.
Defensively, the improvements were evident. The addition of Ilya Lyubushkin played a massive role in allowing Morgan Rielly to elevate his offensive game. He came close to matching his career high in points and set a career high in assists with 58. Acquiring Mark Giordano at the trade deadline was huge, especially for rookie defenseman Timothy Liljegren, who was Gio's most common D partner. He was paired with Justin Holl in the playoffs, sure - but that didn't seem to work out nearly as well. Holl had some great moments and he also had a few terrible moments, as we've come to expect from the undrafted blueliner.
All of this to get down to the most important part of the puzzle. Jack Campbell was outstanding at times in the playoffs. At other points, he looked pedestrian. He stood on his head when the Buds needed him to and he came up big in big moments. That said, there were a couple of opportunities for him to make routine saves that he just did not make. In a series that close, one save could have made all the difference. Much like his regular season, the postseason was a tale of two Jack Campbells.
Campbell is 30 years old and isn't getting any younger. With his contract up, he'll be looking for a sizable pay increase. Not to say that he hasn't earned it, but is it worth it to be paying an aging goalie between $4-5 million per year for 3-5 years? The cap strapped Leafs certainly can't afford that and if they could find a way to make the money fit, there may be better options out there in the trade market in a similar price range.
If Kyle Dubas ends up pursuing a trade for a starting goaltender, John Gibson seems to be the most popular name among the fanbase. Gibson's name has been connected to the Buds for years, though as revealed by Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, the stars have never fully aligned allowing a trade to materialize. Gibson has been an unbelievably solid goalie for the Ducks for long stretches, but over the past few seasons he hasn't had much defensive support and Anaheim's aging core wasn't helping matters. Now that they've embarked on a rebuild, the Ducks are beginning to come around, but Gibson does not currently fit their window for contention and may be available as a result.
Gibson is a couple years younger than Soup and has proven himself to be among the NHL's elite goalies within his prime years. He is still very much in his prime and perhaps playing for a better team would have him re-emerge as one of the league's top netminders. A trade such as this one might cost the Leafs an enormous amount, but it may also produce enormous results. The question is, will Gibson's $6.4M cap hit for 5 more seasons be too much for the Leafs to stomach?
| POLL | ||
6 JUIN | 1010 ANSWERS If the Leafs are going to be spending $5M plus on a goalie, that goalie should not be Jack Campbell Is John Gibson the answer in Toronto? | ||
| 100% | 218 | 21.6 % |
| No, he just creates bigger cap problems | 306 | 30.3 % |
| It depends who they're moving out to get him | 367 | 36.3 % |
| Show me the results | 119 | 11.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
