Jack Campbell will be the starting goalie for the Toronto Maple Leafs next season, but who will back him up?
The Toronto Maple Leafs suffered a devastating loss this postseason, but it wasn’t because of their goaltending. For the first time during the Auston Matthews Era, the goaltending was spectacular and Jack Campbell gave the team every opportunity to win.
In seven games, Campbell had a .934 SV% and 1.81 GAA (stats: hockeyreference.com), which included one shutout. After averaging 3.3 goals per game during the regular season, the Leafs couldn’t live up to that mark in the playoffs and it cost them the possibility of advancing to the second round.
Losing in the first round stings, especially when it’s not your goalie’s fault.
The Leafs offense was their biggest skillset so it was very disappointing that they couldn’t help out Campbell during the playoffs. Let’s hope that Campbell’s run wasn’t just a flash in the pan and he can provide similar stats next year, as there’s no way that the Leafs offense can run dry three years in a row.
Well, at least, let’s hope not.
Heading into the 2020-21 season, Freddie Andersen was the starter, and Campbell was the back-up. However, after Campbell had such a great season and Andersen is a UFA, it makes zero sense to bring him back, especially since he’ll be asking for a lot of money.
Since Campbell is their starter and only makes $1.65M, it’ll free up a lot of cap-space to bring in a veteran back-up or someone who can split time 50/50 with him. Campbell still hasn’t proven that he can be a starting goalie during an 82-game season, and also battled injury concerns, so it would make sense to sign a goalie who can at least start 40 percent of the games.
Ideally, you’d love to see Campbell play a maximum of 50 games next year, so that he’s rested and prepared for the playoffs, while your back-up can still win you a ton of games.
As such, here are three goaltenders the Toronto Maple Leafs should sign this offseason.