Insider infers that a Leafs goaltender is just ''Frederik Andersen 2.0'', proposes a wild idea to fix the problem
Goaltending has long been one of the biggest concerns for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and while they've largely gotten some pretty solid goaltending this season, there are still some concerns, no doubt.
In recent weeks, the Leafs have been riding the coattails of a red-hot Ilya Samsonov, but prior to that, they had hitched their wagon to Matt Murray for a good chunk of the season. In fact, before Samsonov's surge, it appeared as though Murray was poised to grab the reins and take over as the Leafs' official #1 goaltender. As fate would have it, that simply didn't happen and Murray is once again sidelined due to an injury.
This marks the 2nd time in just a few short months that Murray has missed significant time with an injury. If you'll recall, he was on the shelf, dealing with an adductor injury that he had suffered back in mid October and did not return for a month.
All of his has led one Insider/Leafs correspondent to question whether or not Murray is just another version of former Leafs goaltender, Frederik Andersen. Andersen was beloved by Leafs Nation in his first 2 seasons with the team, but in years 3-5, Fred had a much more tenuous relationship with the fanbase. Andersen was often subject to receiving "Bronx cheers" and was highly criticized for allowing squeakers at inopportune times, ultimately leading management to turn elsewhere for their goaltending needs.
Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos didn't exactly lean one way or another on whether to jettison Murray or not, but he did lay out a few options for Dubas. According to Kyper, the main options here for Dubas are to allow Murray his time to heal and hope that the current tandem can get hot at the right time, roll with Ilya Samosonv as the team's #1 much like what they did with Jack Campbell or, finally, make a hard push to acquire either Thatcher Demko or Juuse Saros.
I don't even want to think about what the cost to acquire a Demko or a Saros would be, but as Kyper stated on Thursday, either one would immediately halt any goaltending controversies in Toronto.
| POLL | ||
FEVRIER 2 | 363 ANSWERS Insider infers that a Leafs goaltender is just ''Frederik Andersen 2.0'', proposes a wild idea to fix the problem If the Leafs did decide to make a move for a true #1 goalie, who would you choose? | ||
| Demko | 106 | 29.2 % |
| Saros | 129 | 35.5 % |
| Neither.. stick with Murray/Samsonov | 128 | 35.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
