Frederik Andersen will not be Toskala 2.0
When Frederik Andersen was acquired it closed the debate as to who would be the number one goalie. Furthermore, once management gave him a five-year contract worth $25 million, it was a lock that he would be the guy in net.
Then in one Olympic qualifier he suffered an upper-body injury. As a result, he was scratched from Team Europe for the World Cup of Hockey. With an injury set back and trying to knock off the rust, Andersen struggled a bit in the pre-season.
After being lit up by the Montréal Canadiens, some fans began to have flashbacks of Vesa Toskala and Jonathan Bernier. Goalies that have come to Toronto to be the guy, but failed miserably.
Look I get it, as Maple Leaf fans it’s in our blood to fear the worse and say, “here we go again” but this will not be the case. Andersen may not be able to steal enough games to get the Maple Leafs in to the playoffs. However, his play will show that he is the number one goalie.
The reasoning? Lou Lamoriello knows his goalies.
He drafted Marin Brodeaur, one of the greatest goalies of all-time. Then when it came time to replace Brodeaur, Lamoriello made a shrewd trade for Cory Schneider. So lets hope he doesn’t lose that magic goalie touch.