Sheldon Keefe reveals the level of faith he has in Campbell as a true 1 NHL goalie
It's safe to say that there were a lot of question marks surrounding how the Leafs were going to shape up this season after their first round defeat at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Perhaps no bigger question marks existed with this team than what would happen in goal with all signs pointing toward Frederik Andersen heading to free agency. Well, Andersen did go to free agency, landing in Carolina, where he has enjoyed much success so far this season, and a former Canes goalie in Petr Mrazek wound up in Toronto.
Originally, it was believed that Mrazek and Campbell would work as a tandem, but with Mrazek having suffered a pair of groin injuries, Campbell has been forced to take on a much larger workload than expected. Little did we expect that Campbell would thrive with this type of a workload, but that's exactly what has happened and Leafs Nation could not be happier with the results.
Leafs Nation aren't the only ones who have enjoyed Campbell's run as a number one this season. Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe commented on Monday following practice that, at this point, Campbell has a real good shot to continue playing the lion's share of the games.
"There is opportunity for Jack to just run with it," said Keefe of Campbell, who has never been a bona-fide number one goaltender in his NHL career, despite being a first round draft pick, 11th overall by the Dallas Stars back in 2010.
Campbell has started appeared in 24 games for the Leafs this season, racking up an impressive 16-5-2 record, picking up right where he left off last season, when he posted a 17-3-2 record for the Buds with Frederik Andersen having been sidelined for much of the 2020-21 campaign. His 1.86 GAA and .939 sv% are the best in the league, among goalies with 10 or more starts, and his 16 wins rank second behind only the aforementioned Andersen and Andrei Vasilevskiy, a two-time Stanley Cup champ and former Vezina Trophy winner.
Keefe called the extended holiday break (thanks to COVID-19) a "blessing in disguise" for Campbell, alluding to the fact that with the team having been unable to really manage Campbell's workload due to the injuries to Mrazek, the pause has provided the 29-year-old with plenty of time to rest and recover from his first 24 games.
Campbell has also been on modified duty in practice as a way of cutting down the miles that are racking up on his body over a busier season than normal. It appears to be working out very well to this point, and it's actually a pleasant surprise that Campbell is able to remain so dialed in, despite putting in limited work during practice.
It's definitely a welcome surprise to see Campbell excelling in Toronto. A late-bloomer, at 110 career NHL games, Campbell should have a lot of miles left, and the only real concern at this point doesn't appear to be whether or not he can keep up this quality play - it's that if he does, Campbell's next contract could end up being a bigger one than anyone could foresee coming into this season.
