TRAIKOS Can the Maple Leafs win a Stanley Cup without a big-name big-contract goalie
Author of the article:
Michael Traikos
The Carolina Hurricanes signed free-agent goaltender Frederik Andersen on Wednesday, ending his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Photo by Ian Kucerak /Postmedia Network Article content Can the Toronto Maple Leafs win a Stanley Cup with Jack Campbell and Petr Mrazek as their goaltenders?
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Article contentHonestly, who knows anymore?
While the Tampa Bay Lightning won back-to-back championships with four-time Vezina Trophy finalist Andrei Vasilevskiy as their unquestioned starter, the line between elite No. 1 goalie and flavour-of-the-month has never been so blurred â€" or so confusing.
Maybe that is why so many teams are now treating the position as though it is the NHL’s version of a bullpen. It’s all about quantity â€" not quality â€" these days, with teams preferring tandems and riding the hot hand for all it’s worth, before discarding it once it goes cold.
And so, Mrazek replaces Frederik Andersen as the Leafs’ 1B on a three-year deal where he and Campbell will presumably share the net. In a division that includes Vasilevskiy, Montreal’s Carey Price and Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky, you’d be hard-pressed to say that the Leafs have improved their chances of getting out of the first round.
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Article content“It never felt for us like we had a tandem,†Leafs GM Kyle Dubas said of Campbell and Andersen, who evenly split the net last season. “It was just whoever was healthy was playing. Mrazek has done (a tandem) in Carolina, but also carried the ball as a starter. We think they will push each other.â€
At the same time, Dubas admitted that it’s not like the Leafs had the cap space to go “big-game hunting†for a big-name goalie. Even they did, why would they waste the money on a position where you don’t necessarily get what you pay for.
Despite splitting the net, Campbell ($1.65 million) outplayed Andersen ($5 milion). It was a similar situation in Florida, where minor-league journeyman Chris Driedger ($850,000) outplayed Bobrovsky ($10 million), while Montreal’s Jake Allen ($2.875 million) had comparable numbers to Price ($10.5 million).
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Article contentIn fact, Marc-Andre Fleury was the only goalie who was ranked in the top-5 in save percentage who earned more than $5 million last season. And yet, this year’s Vezina Trophy winner was traded from Vegas to Chicago on Tuesday in what was essentially a salary dump to free up cap space elsewhere.
They weren’t the only goalies on the move in what has become a giant game of musical chairs.
Phillip Grubauer, who was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy last season while leading the Avalanche to the best record in the NHL, priced himself out of Colorado and signed a $5.9 million cap hit in Seattle; Alex Nedeljkovic, who led the NHL with a .932 save percentage and 1.90 goals-against average, was traded from Carolina to Detroit for a third-round pick.
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Article contentAndersen and Antti Raanta signed in Carolina, Braden Holtby signed in Dallas, and Jonathan Bernier signed in New Jersey, as teams changed things up for the sake of changing things up.
“It was one of those negotiations where we couldn’t get to the number he was at,†Avalanche GM Joe Sakic said of failing to sign Grubauer. “We’ll be circling the phones. We have two or three goalies in our mind.â€
You’d like to think one of those goalies is Tuukka Rask, who remains unsigned after earning $7 million in Boston last season. Then again, it could very well be Darcy Kuemper or Linus Ullmark, who combined for the same amount as Rask while putting up similar numbers.
What a strange time it is to be a goalie. Though the chances of employment increased with the addition of Seattle as the 32nd team, apparently so have the number of capable goaltenders. Every team is looking for the next Vasilevsky. But with the cap remaining flat, teams are also looking for the next Driedger, someone who doesn’t cost much and who can come in and win a bunch of games.
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Article contentThis isn’t like the NHL back in the ’90s when Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur, Dominik Hasek and Ed Belfour were consistently the best of the best. This isn’t like it is with the NHL’s scoring leaders, who pretty much include the same five or six names.
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None of the goalies who finished in top-5 in save percentage last season (Nedeljkovic, Semyon Varlamov, Fleury, Juuse Saros and Driedger) were in the top-5 in each of the previous five years. Only Vasilevskiy, Fleury and Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck have finished in the top-5 in Vezina Trophy voting more than twice in the past five years.
That’s quite the turnover. Perhaps that is why so many teams are unafraid to roll the dice and try someone new this year.
You just might end up getting the next Vezina Trophy winner. And, as Toronto showed on Wednesday, it doesn’t have to cost you more than a few million dollars.
mtraikos@postmedia.com
twitter.com/Michael_Traikos
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