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Toronto Maple Leafs: 3 UFA Goalies to Replace Freddie Andersen

By Stephen Nixon

TORONTO, ON - MAY 31: Jack Campbell #36 of the Toronto Maple Leafs scrambles to get back into position for a rebound against the Montreal Canadiens during Game Seven of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on May 31, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Canadiens defeated the Map[le Leafs 3-1 to win series 4 games to 3. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - MAY 31: Jack Campbell #36 of the Toronto Maple Leafs scrambles to get back into position for a rebound against the Montreal Canadiens during Game Seven of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on May 31, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Canadiens defeated the Map[le Leafs 3-1 to win series 4 games to 3. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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Toronto Maple Leafs
NEWARK, NEW JERSEY – FEBRUARY 20: Linus Ullmark #35 of the Buffalo Sabres . (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

No. 1: Linus Ullmark

The Toronto Maple Leafs should spend a little money on their back-up goaltender, but they should free up some space to add their forward depth. As a result, Ullmark could be a perfect price to add, without worrying about the cap.

The 27-year-old netminder is coming off a $2.6M contract and has only started 117 career games in the past six seasons. Although he has potential, there probably isn’t a team in the NHL that would sign him to be their starting goalie, so any team should be able to get him relatively cheap.

Even if Toronto signed him to a $3M per year contract, that would still be $2M cheaper than what they paid Andersen last year, so it’ll free up a good amount of money to acquire another forward.

Ullmark has had two great years, despite playing for the Buffalo Sabres. In limited action, Ullmark had a .916 SV% and 2.66 GAA in his previous two seasons.

Those stats are very similar to Freddie Andersen, but Ullmark provided those stats on one of the worst teams in the NHL. If he played in Toronto, with a much improved defense, it’s realistic to assume that his SV% would increase and GAA would decrease.

Ullmark would be a great back-up to Campbell, because he could fill in if he ever got hurt, but he’s also good enough that it would create some competition in net, which clearly helped Campbell this season.

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