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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
TORONTO, ON – MAY 6: David Rittich #33 of the Toronto Maple Leafs  (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

No. 2: David Rittich

After trading a third-round pick to Calgary for Rittich last trade deadline, it would feel a lot better if they re-signed him, rather than let him walk in free agency. (It would feel better, but it wouldn’t actually matter due to the sunk cost fallacy).

Rittich only appeared in four games with Toronto this year, and although it wasn’t pretty, that shouldn’t scare anyone away from re-signing him to be the back-up. Over his career, Rittich has proven that he can be a starting goaltender, but is clearly better suited as a back-up.

With a career .907 SV% and 2.82 GAA (stats: hockeydb.com), Rittich could be a cheap back-up to Campbell. With an offseason to adjust to the system and get climatized, he should have a much better performance in a full year, than he did in the four games he appeared in this year.

In order to make their overall team better, the Leafs need to be able to sign a back-up goaltender to as cheap of a deal as possible, without it hurting the team’s chances at winning. Rittich is a veteran and can be relied upon to win games as a back-up, so the team should have faith in him to relieve Campbell, while not hurting the salary cap.

I know that his game in Vancouver this year was one of the worst goalie performances we’ve ever seen, but bringing him back at a contract between $2-3M (or hopefully less) would be great value.

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