Should the Toronto Maple Leafs Extend Jack Campbell Immediately?
Did the Toronto Maple Leafs make a mistake by not giving Jack Campbell an extension this offseason?
During the offseason, the biggest question that everybody had was whether or not the Toronto Maple Leafs would re-sign Morgan Rielly. For whatever reason, Jack Campbell’s name never came up that often.
After posting a 2.15 GAA and .921 SV% with a 17-3-2 record, Campbell pleasantly surprised many Leafs fans. Having only seen him for six games in the previous season, we didn’t really know what to expect.
Having been a former 11th overall draft pick, we all knew Campbell had the intangibles to be a number-one goaltender, but he’d never put it all together at the NHL level. Instead, he was bouncing around the AHL, before settling in as a back-up to Jonathan Quick with the LA Kings.
When the Leafs traded for Campbell, they did so for insurance purposes to Freddie Andersen with hopes that he could compete for a 1A, 1B tandem position, but I don’t think they expected him to settle in so quickly.
During his tenure in Toronto, he’s looked brilliant.
The fanbase loves him, his teammates love him and it feels like he loves playing here. Those are three great things to have in a goaltender and now that Petr Mrazek is hurt for 14 days, it’s a huge stretch for Campbell, as he looks to finally establish himself as the number-one netminder.
Should the Toronto Maple Leafs Extend Campbell ?
The Leafs recently signed Mrazek to a three-year deal worth $3.8M per season, which would indicate that he’s not going anywhere soon. However, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s going to be the team’s number-one goaltender for the long-run.
Mrazek was always brought in as a tandem goaltender and that should still be the plan.
The Leafs are currently paying Mrazek and Campbell a combined $5.45M which is a very reasonable amount, as there are 11 goaltenders in the NHL that individually make more than that.
However, once Campbell hits the free agent market next year, at this rate what is he going to make?
Campbell currently makes $1.65M, but he’s potentially due for a huge raise. The Leafs could have risked extending him based on a 30 game audition, and in exchange for that risk they could have locked in a star goalie at a cheap price.
The Leafs made a similar bet when they signed Justin Holl before he hit free agency in the middle of the season for a three-year deal worth $2M AAV. Holl is a $4M defenseman on the open market, so they got ahead of that and saved themselves a lot of money.
The same logic could be applied to Campbell, as it may be best to get ahead of his contract before he hits the open market next season after potentially leading the Leafs to glory.
The biggest question now when the 2022 offseason hits will be, do they sign Rielly or do they sign Campbell, because they’re probably not going to be able to sign both. At this point, you’d probably want Campbell, but it’ll be interesting to see how those negotiations go.
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If you want to avoid that question and potentially lock-up both players long-term, it may be worth signing Campbell now and risking how the rest of the year goes, because if Campbell plays out of his mind the rest of the way, Toronto may not be able to afford either of them.