Toronto Maple Leafs Roundtable: Changing Opinions
Mike Stephens
There’s really only one answer for this, and it’s Curtis McElhinney.
Heading into the season, McElhinney terrified me. His style was sporadic, he left vast chasms of the net wide open, and just generally looked past his prime. And considering Frederik Andersen can’t play all 82 games, the Leafs glaring lack of a capable backup goalie could have been exposed.
Then, the Leafs acquired Calvin Pickard for peanuts, seemingly anointing him as CMac’s successor. Well, not so fast.
72 games later, and McElhinney’s .935 save percentage leads the entire NHL among goaltenders who’ve started at least 10 games. He’s been exactly what this team needs. A cool, calm goaltender who can step into any situation and be counted on not to lose the game.
It’s honestly getting to the point where, if Andersen misses time in the playoffs, I’m fine with McElhinney holding down the fort. Considering how he looked in October, I can’t believe I actually wrote that sentence.
Although, the numbers don’t lie. McElhinney proved us all wrong and deserves every accolade he’s been given.
Curtis McElhinney has been named the NHL’s third star of the week for the week ending March 18. #TMLtalk https://t.co/r99EcFMCqz
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) March 19, 2018
Keep killin’ it, Curtis.