The Toronto Maple Leafs have a backup goalie problem
Ever since the departure of Curtis McElhinney, the Toronto Maple Leafs have struggled to find a solid backup goalie to play behind Frederik Andersen.
While Andersen has arguably been the most consistent player for the Leafs for quite some time, they cannot play him every game, although we wish they could.
The starting goalie position is one of the hardest ones to fill in today’s NHL, and many teams struggle to do so, and fortunately the Leafs are not one of those teams.
While so much time and money can be invested in finding your primary goaltender, one of the most crucial, yet forgettable, positions in hockey is now the backup goalie.
There is no way the Leafs have confidence in the backup goalies they have put out, as they have collectively gone 0-6-1 this season.
While there is some truth to what the Leafs coaches and management have expressed by saying that they need to play better in front of whoever is between the pipes, every team needs their goalie steal a win for their team at one point during the year, and the secondary goaltending has not done that.
Georgiev and The Rangers
One goalie the Toronto Maple Leafs could conceivably target is Alexandar Georgiev, according to hockeybuzz.com they are definitely interested in that option.
Alexandar Georgiev has turned out to be quite the surprise after being signed as an undrafted goaltender by the Rangers in the summer of 2017.
The 23-year-old is currently sitting 7th in the league in save percentage among goalies with less than 20 games played (.923 sv%), and has a 9-5-1 record through his 15 games played this season.
While this season could change the trajectory of Georgiev’s potential within the New York Rangers goaltending group, all signs seem to point to 2014 fourth round pick Igor Shestyorkin as the starting goalie of the future.
Shestyorkin is currently putting up insane numbers through 17 games in the AHL with a 1.81 goals against average and a .936 save percentage, and Rangers fans seem to believe he is NHL ready. Having too many great goaltenders is not usually a problem in the NHL, but this scenario is different.
With Lundqvist occupying $8.5 million in cap space up until 2021 and Georgiev’s entry level deal expiring this season, where they also have to sign multiple roster players heading into free agency, the Rangers could be put into an interesting situation where they may feel inclined to make a trade involving one of their young goaltenders.
Who Could The Leafs Give Up?
The Rangers need better depth scoring, and the Leafs can most definitely provide that.
KasperiKapanen and Andreas Johnsson are names who come to all Leafs fans minds when thinking of trade assets, but as the Rangers seem to be fighting a rebuild, and the Leafs would need to look for serviceable replacements for Kapanen and Johnsson, it may be in the best interest for both teams to look younger.
It is inevitable when creating a deal involving someone of Georgiev’s importance to the Rangers organization that the Leafs would have to give up a roster player, but in terms of prospects being dealt, one person I think the Leafs should consider moving Timothy Liljegren.
As much as I would love to see him pan out to be better, in comparison to his draft class contemporaries Liljegren’s potential has significantly lowered.
Liljegren could definitely be a late bloomer, but as someone like Rasmus Sandin begins to transition to be one of Toronto’s next young stud defenceman, Liljegren becomes a much more attractive trade asset to teams like New York who lack a strong defensive core.
I do not have an exact trade in mind because Georgiev’s value as an NHL goalie is still unknown. He has not been in a situation where he is the primary goaltending option, and he may even have the potential to exceed a backup role on another team.
It is pretty unlikely the Rangers are willing to deal Georgiev due to how he is beginning to prove himself as a solid NHL goalie this season, but if trade talks were open, the Leafs do have enough young talented prospects and roster players that could potentially spark interest for the Rangers.
In order to be a contending team in the NHL, you do not necessarily need the best goaltending, but you cannot have the worst. As the Toronto Maple Leafs continue to push for a playoff spot, they definitely need to consider trading for someone to relieve Freddy every once in a while.