How Will the Toronto Maple Leafs Goaltending Look After Free Agency?

Toronto Maple Leafs Familiar Faces

Next up, familiar faces Johnathan Bernier and James Reimer. It was no more than 5 seasons ago that the two of them shared the net for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

In his years since leaving the Six, 32-year-old Bernier, has served as a strong starting option in goal for a very subpar Detroit Red Wings team. Every year Detroit has put a borderline NHL-caliber defensive group in front of Bernier and consistently he has still put up save percentages north of .904 every year, with his most recent year being the best at .914% with 24 games played.

Now as I move on to the next familiar name of 33-year-old James Reimer, I want everyone to omit Boston 2013 from their brain. It’s happened, it’s over, and James Reimer is a darn good goalie.

Since being traded from Toronto in 2016, Reimer has bounced around the league. With stints in San Jose, Florida, and most recently, Carolina, Reimer has made a name for himself as the more than capable 1B. It’s the role he’s served everywhere he’s gone since Toronto.

Not to mention in only one year since Toronto, has Reimer posted a sub .906 SV%. Not too bad for someone who a lot of people labeled a sieve during his time here.

There are lots of fond memories (as well as some not so fond ones) from the Reimer/Bernier era in Toronto, and on a short term deal, as their age gets up there and their careers come to an end, I would love to see the opportunity for one of these two more than competent goalies come back to Toronto to redeem themselves.

The Bang for Your Buck

Now the Reimer/Bernier options are more storybook than anything. If I was looking straight at stats and what I think the Leafs can get the most out of for their money, I would have to go for one of these two, Jaroslav Halak or Laurent Brossoit.

Behind Tuukka Rask, the Bruins are looking to groom the next one to take the crease in youngster Jeremy Swayman. With that being the case, as much as the Bruins and their fans love him, Halak will be on his way out this offseason.

3 years in Boston turned out great for Halak with two out of three years posting north of.919 save percentages in 31+ games, certainly raising his stock among the league. Halak filled in for Rask as a 1B option on numerous occasions without letting the team miss a beat. That’s exactly what the Leafs would need in the case that Jack Campbell goes down with an injury.

Towards the end of his career, Halak is looking to capture that coveted cup and how much better could it work out for both the Leafs and Halak with a deal at 1 year – $2 million. A cheap, viable option for the Leafs and a half-decent chance at the cup for Halak.

Now for the other option I mentioned, Laurent Brossoit. He’s a real interesting option. At 28-years-old, Brossoit seems ready to move on from behind the shadow of Hellebyuck into some version of a starting role.

Brossoit has spent the last 3 seasons as the backup in Winnipeg, with his most recent coming along with success. Brossoit put up a .918 SV% and a 2.42 GAA.

I believe that at 28 years old Brossoit has the potential to turn into a starting goalie and if that means he needs to take the net away from Jack Campbell, I’d be okay with that.

Give him a short term deal, one or two years around $2.5 million, see what he does, see if he can take that next step in the net and prove himself. If he can, great, then he’s our new starter, and if not then he can serve as a very capable 1B backup behind Jack Campbell.

The Wildcard

Chris Driedger is that of what no one really knows what will happen with. He’s played fantastic the past two years in Florida and exceeded expectations. Really, he’s done everything except for win in playoffs. Sounds familiar right?

Driedger posted a .927% save percentage this past season and played even better than his counterpart Sergei Bobrovsky while still making less than 10% of Bobrovsky’s salary.

Now if he’s such a good option, why doesn’t Florida keep him right? Well, Florida has $10 million locked up in Bob for each of the next 5 seasons and cannot afford to spend any more on another guy who’s going to do that same job even better than Bob.

Not even to mention the fact that Florida has the 20-year-old Spencer Knight ready to step up to the NHL. There is simply no room on that team for another goalie, so unless Florida can find some way to move on from Bob without kicking themselves in the stomach, then Driedger is on his way out via free agency.

Now the contract  Driedger gets is something that is hard to say. It’s hard to find a real comparison. The guy came into the NHL as a regular not even two seasons ago, but has been nothing but superb since entering.

The only scenario I see playing out realistically is the ‘do it again’ type of contract. Prove that he can continue to play at that level, and then even further that into playing in the playoffs.

A one or two-year deal could make sense for him and the Leafs. Driedger would certainly come in at a higher price than the others mentioned previously – $3.5 million, maybe even 4 at the highest simply because of his performance the last two years? But if that’s what we’re paying for a goalie like Driedger, I’m happy with it.

Driedger is someone who controls his own destiny here and I’m certain at the right price point, the Toronto Maple Leafs would be interested.

Now to close this out, is this to say that Frederik Andersen is 100% gone from the Leafs? No. That is still very much a possibility and one that has been rumored to be in discussions.

Who will share the net with Jack Campbell come September? Well, we’ll have to stay on our toes to find out and it will certainly be interesting to see what happens this offseason.