Jack Campbell is the Toronto Maple Leafs number-one goalie, but with limited experience, the team may want to spend a little extra money on another netminder.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are not a salary-cap strapped team at the moment. Although it may feel that way because they have $40 invested into four forwards, they’re actually going to have roughly $11M of cap-space to spend in free agency.
With that much cap-space, the Leafs have the luxury of using it in a few different ways. They could spend half of it on a top-six left-winger to play with the core-four, or they could spread it out wisely on more depth pieces.
However, one of the more interesting ways to spend it is to target an expensive back-up or 1A/1B goaltender.
The Stanley Cup Finals saw two expensive starting goalies, with the Montreal Canadiens investing roughly $14M in their tandem netminders. In my opinion, that’s way too much on your goalies, but they made it to the Finals, so clearly they know more than I do.
Since Campbell only makes $1.65M, the Leafs have the ability to bring in a player who’s much more expensive than him, while still staying under the salary-cap. It’s not likely that they would spend $7M on another goalie, but if there’s someone who they desperately like, it could be worth it.
The Leafs core-four is going to have to be the driving factor for this team to win, so if they can finally produce in the playoffs and it’s complimented with A+ goaltending, it could be the recipe to success for Toronto.
Here are three expensive goaltending options for the Toronto Maple Leafs this offseason.