3 Questions About the Toronto Maple Leafs Goaltending
The Toronto Maple Leafs have had great success in net this season.
Jack Campbell has displayed a Vezina caliber performance for the Toronto Maple Leafs, while rookie Joseph Woll has won his first two NHL starts with one via shutout.
As I’m writing this, Jack Campbell leads the NHL in save percentage and goals against average and sits second in wins and shutouts. Though it was assumed he’d have to regress after his incredible performance last season, Campbell has maintained a remarkably consistent high level of play for almost an entire calendar year now.
The goaltending landscape isn’t all sunshine and lollipops for the Toronto Maple Leafs, however. There are some issues that need to be worked out for the team to have continued success.
Here are a few questions regarding the Toronto Maple Leafs goaltenders:
Can the Toronto Maple Leafs Re-Sign Jack Campbell?
It could be the most bittersweet event in Toronto Maple Leafs history… Imagine if Jack Campbell wins the Vezina trophy but signs with another team in the offseason.
A Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender hasn’t won a Vezina since 1965 which was before the award was determined by a vote. It would feel amazing to see Jack Campbell win the award, but it would be devastating to lose him for nothing.
Toronto has to re-sign him, right?
It’s mind boggling to look at last season’s Vezina nominees and realize that both winner, Marc-Andre Fleury, and nominee, Philipp Grubauer, changed teams during the offseasons. They were two of the best goalies in the NHL. How can they be that expendable?
If the Toronto Maple Leafs manage to re-sign Jack Campbell, they’ll have to continue to do some cap gymnastics.
The cap is expected to go up by about $1 million next season and the Maple Leafs will finally lose the $1.2 million in dead cap they’re still paying Phil Kessel, however, Morgan Reilly will get a raise of $2.5 million starting next season while Rasmus Sandin, Timothy Liljegren, Ondrej Kase, Pierre Engvall and Joseph Woll will be RFA’s with Jason Spezza, Ilya Mikheyev and Kirill Semyonov being UFA’s.
Jack Campbell has said he wants to stay in Toronto. He seems like a friendly guy who may make a team friendly deal, but unless it’s ridiculously friendly, there’s going to have to be some significant player movement to make it work since he’s worth a lot more than the $1.65 million he’s earning now.
Can Petr Mrazek Stay Healthy Enough to Help the Toronto Maple Leafs?
Petr Mrazek has already suffered two significant injuries this season, and we’re only a quarter of the way through the season. Even in the two games he’s played, he’s put up a disappointing .877 save percentage and 4.20 goals against average.
Campbell and Mrazek were supposed to play as a tandem. Part of the reason was so Jack Campbell wouldn’t get worn out and aggravate some of his own injury issues he suffered from last season.
Petr Mrazek has been plagued by injury in the past and only appeared in 12 games for the Carolina Hurricane last season.
Mrazek has been a great goaltender when he’s played in past seasons, but was it a great decision to sign him to a three year deal worth $3.8 million per season when he’s so injury prone? Especially when you consider Jack Campbell’s expiring contract, it doesn’t seem like signing Mrazek to this kind of deal was the best decision.
Who knows. Maybe Mrazek will bounce back from his injury and play great for the second half of the season, but right now things aren’t looking good.
Is Joseph Woll the Toronto Maple Leafs Goalie of the Future?
23 year old rookie, Joseph Woll, shocked the hockey world when he shutout the New York Islanders in his second ever NHL start. Woll has won both of his starts this season and has a .915 save percentage and a 2.00 goals against average.
Woll has been backing up Campbell during Mrazek’s second stint out with injury and seems to have replaced Michael Hutchinson as the team’s third string goalie. Hutchinson played two games during Mrazek’s first injury this season and was winless with a .857 save percentage and 4.56 goals against average.
Joseph Woll may have originally gotten called up over Hutchinson because Woll is waiver exempt and Hutchinson is not. Woll’s success and Hutchinson’s disappointment may have now allowed Joseph Woll to officially climb the depth chart.
It may be too early to tell though what the Toronto Maple Leafs have in Joseph Woll. He had a great career in the NCAA and World Juniors, but he wasn’t great at the AHL level. His best AHL stint was during his three games this season going 2-1-0 with a .895 save percentage and a 3.38 goals against average.
Next. Jack Campbell is the Best Goalie in the NHL. dark
Besides Campbell, Mrazek, Woll and Hutchinson, the Toronto Maple Leafs are getting a great season out of Erik Källgren on the Toronto Marlies won is 4-2-0 with a .924 save percentage and a 2.49 goals against average. After a great performance at the prospects tournament, Ian Scott was injured during his first preseason game with the Maple Leafs but is expected to return soon.