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Toronto Maple Leafs: 5 Things We’re Missing Without Hockey Right Now

By Stephen Nixon

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 17: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates past Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals in the third period at Capital One Arena on October 17, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 17: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates past Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals in the third period at Capital One Arena on October 17, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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TORONTO, ON – NOVEMBER 7: Frederik Andersen #31 of the Toronto Maple Leafs. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON – NOVEMBER 7: Frederik Andersen #31 of the Toronto Maple Leafs. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

#4. Was Frederik Andersen Going to Deliver in the Playoffs?

Assuming the Leafs made the playoffs, this was going to be the biggest year of Frederik Andersen’s career.

Over the past three seasons, Andersen has been OK during the Leafs’ playoff runs. He hasn’t been the main factor towards why the Leafs lost each one of those series, but he hasn’t been able to steal a series like fans hoped he could.

From 2018 to 2019, Andersen’s playoff SV% improved drastically from .896 to .922, but his GAA was still a little too high at 2.75.

During most Stanley Cup runs, a goaltender’s GAA is closer to 2.00, so in order for the Leafs to be successful, Andersen will have to improve on that statistic.

In four seasons in Toronto, Andersen has shown that he’s a definitive number-one goaltender and at times is one of the best in the world. He finished fourth in Vezina Trophy voting in 2017-18 and actually received one first-place vote.

However, his current season has been his worst in Toronto. It may not have everything to with him, though.

The Toronto Maple Leafs defense has been shattered with injuries. Morgan Rielly and Jake Muzzin have missed extensive time this year, so Tyson Barrie, Justin Holl, Cody Ceci and Travis Dermott have been asked to play bigger roles than they’re capable of.

Despite injuries being an excuse, once the playoffs were going to hit, the team most likely would have been at full-strength so we would have been able to see what type of Andersen we were going to get this year.

Were we going to see the October Andersen who struggles at the beginning of every season or the Vezina-caliber Andersen who stopped 37 of 38 shots in Game 1 of the 2019 Playoffs?

With one year left on his contract, the hockey stoppage is minimizing the amount of games that Andersen has to prove why he should the goaltender of the future.

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