Potential goalie candidates ranked by priority for the Leafs to sign
During their Leaf Report podcast last week, Jonas Siegel and James Mirtle spent some time discussing goaltending, and revealed that they were working on a list of potential candidates the Leafs should be looking at. This morning they revealed that list, beginning with 7 potential starters ranked from lowest to highest priority:
7. John Gibson (5 yrs $6.4m AAV)
6. Jordan Binnington (5 years $6m AAV)
5. Ville Husso (UFA)
4. Jack Campbell (UFA)
3. Darcy Kuemper (UFA)
2. Marc-André Fleury (UFA)
1. Semyon Varlamov (1 year $5m AAV)
Mirtle and Siegel didn't stop there, as they also compiled a list of potential backup/1b options:
9. Matt Murray (2 years $6.25m AAV)
8. Alexander Georgiev (RFA)
7. Casey DeSmith (UFA)
6. Jonathan Bernier (1 year $4.125m AAV)
5. Jake Allen (1 year $2.875 AAV)
4. Braden Holtby (UFA)
3. Johnathan Quick (1 year $5.8m AAV)
2. James Reimer (1 year $2.25. AAV)
1. Alex Nedeljkovic (1 year $3m AAV)
Interesting to note, that despite plenty being written about it, the Leafs aren't currently showing interest in John Gibson. When you see his name beside a few of these other ones, it's clear why. He presents the largest cap hit on the list, and is as big a question mark as any in terms of his performance. I agree with this list of starters, and sorting through these names (and Mrazek's contract) could show exactly why the Leafs are at a stand still. They would be right to wait on Campbell until they hear the cost/availability of at least Varlamov and Fleury, though I'd question prioritizing Kuemper over him.
Fleury chatter seems to be heating up again. The Leafs were high on trying to get a deal done for him around the deadline, but it seemed that it never got as far as the Hawks asking him to waive his NMC to to go Toronto. Wanting to win and potentially signing his last big contract, reports are emerging that his attitude may have changed on where he might be willing to go this summer. If that's his situation, the Leafs should be getting Jason Spezza on a plane yesterday to be sitting Flower down for some beers and selling him on finishing out his career as a Leaf.
Fleury aside, Varlamov makes sense in the #1 slot here. He lost his starting job to Ilya Sorokin in Long Island, but not by lack of merit. Sorokin is just really good. The Islanders finally showed this year that they aren't taking the next step without getting some goal scoring, so they need to clear space and Sorokin is the cheaper/better option for another two years. With only one year left and a pretty high cap hit, the cost to acquire shouldn't be too high and it could help the leafs clear space elsewhere as well, as the Isles should be interested in the Leafs secondary scoring.
In the backup/1b department, I dont think anyone should feel good about any of these names unless they come behind a solid starter. Though, after the stretches the Leafs had where their only options were Kallgren or Mrazek, any one of these names might be appealing to you.
Reports surfaced a few weeks ago that the Leafs might be looking to shed salary and go with a couple goalies in the $1-$2 million range. With a lack of a goaltending coach/department currently, it seems unlikely that they'd take that risk. Until we know who fills that role, it seems more likely that they'd go with a seasoned pro who's development might not be so negatively impacted by that position being in flux. Which way they go with this decision will drastically affect how this team is built next year. Which direction would you like to see them take?
Credit: The Athletic
| POLL | ||
JUIN 21 | 345 ANSWERS Potential goalie candidates ranked by priority for the Leafs to sign Which direction would you like to see the Leafs goaltending go? | ||
| Legit #1 and in-house backup | 153 | 44.3 % |
| Two cheap names from the backup list | 22 | 6.4 % |
| Prioritize Campbell with in-house backup | 112 | 32.5 % |
| Get a coach and his opinion first | 58 | 16.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
