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Toronto Maple Leafs: Five All-Star Game Hopefuls

By Matthew Rodrigopulle

Jan 1, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs players line up along the blue line for opening ceremonies prior to playing Detroit Red Wings during the Centennial Classic ice hockey game at BMO Field. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 1, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs players line up along the blue line for opening ceremonies prior to playing Detroit Red Wings during the Centennial Classic ice hockey game at BMO Field. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports /
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Dec 28, 2016; Sunrise, FL, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen (31) makes a save in the first period of a game against the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 28, 2016; Sunrise, FL, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen (31) makes a save in the first period of a game against the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports /

Frederik Andersen

Frederik Andersen joined the Leafs this season straight off a hot season with the Anaheim Ducks. Andersen at first experienced early season struggles in which he posted a .851% save percentage with only one win within his first five games of the season.

With this poor play brought quite a lot of criticism from fans and analysts alike, including Hockey Night In Canada‘s own Don Cherry, who blamed the Leafs early season struggles on their goaltending. Cherry went so far as to say, “It’s the problem with the Leafs right now, why they’re losing. I’ll come out and say it is that their goaltending is lousy.”

Despite the negative responses surrounding Andersen, Mike Babcock and the Leafs continued to have faith in their new goaltender, and before long Andersen was able to bounce back and play spectacularly. Soon after, Andersen went on to post a .927% save percentage, while accumulating five wins in his next seven starts.

In 31 games started this season, Andersen holds a 16-8 record with a 2.63 goals against average and a .920% save percentage, including one shutout performance. Although he currently sits 18th in the league in save percentage, the only goaltenders who have played more games than him and have a better save percentage are Sergei Bobrovsky (32 games), Peter Budaj (33 games), and Martin Jones (33 games).

As of late however, Andersen has especially been hot. Despite Tuesday night’s six goal defeat against the Capitals that may have tarnished his statistics, Andersen ended 2016 off as a top goaltender in the league.

Frederik Andersen may be streaky, but if he can pull his dominant play together within the next couple of weeks, an All-Star selection may not be too far out of the picture.

Next: Top Five Defenders For 2017 NHL Draft

Thanks for reading and feel free to give me any feedback on Twitter.

Also, Let me know who you think might or might not make the All-Star game this year in the comments below. Here’s to a good 2017.

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