Leafs reportedly reach out to Atlantic Division rival to inquire about a goaltender

Sportsnet's Nick Alberga revealed the interesting tidbit on Sunday, just 3 days ahead of the beginning of free agency. With a lack of any true #1 or 1A goalies on the free agent market this summer other than Darcy Kuemper and Jack Campbell, it appears as though the Leafs, Caps and Oilers are doing their due diligence to determine who might be available on the trade market should things not go their way on Wednesday.

Alberga notes that the Habs are still very high on Allen, who turns 32 on August 7th, so the cost of acquisition may not be cheap - especially with the questionable health of starter Carey Price. Price had undergone a procedure on his knee earlier this year in hopes of being able to return to the game he loves this fall. Early signs look good.

I'm not entirely sure that Allen solves any problems for the Leafs other than the fact that he's signed through this coming season at just $2.87M, which is substantially less than the asks of Kuemper, Campbell and the cap hits for goalies like John Gibson, Matt Murray and Semyon Varlamov, who may be available via trade as well.

Allen has not started more than 35 games in any of the last 3 seasons, but does boast a career .911 sv% over 353 NHL games. Acquiring the Fredericton, NB native would merely be a band-aid for a bullet wound, as his deal expires next summer and would land the Leafs right back where they are now in a year. But, if the Leafs are unable to lock down a goaltender with some term remaining or sign one of Campbell or Kuemper to a multi-year deal, Allen could be a patchwork solution to buy them some more time.