The Toronto Maple Leafs might want to consider playing Petr Mrazek a little bit more often.
We’re not even halfway through the NHL season, but Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Jack Campbell is approaching his most games played total.
During his seven year NHL career, the most games that Jack Campbell has ever played in a season was 31 games in the 2018-19 campaign. He finished with a .928 save percentage (SV %) and 2.30 goals against average (GAA) and was a great back-up to Jonathan Quick (stats: hockeyreference.com).
Of those 31 games played, only 25 of them were starts, so if you look at Campbell this season, he’s actually already surpassed his most career starts in a season with 28 starts this year.
In the 29 games that Campbell has played this year, he’s been brilliant. You could make the argument that he’s the team’s most valuable player because he’s won the Leafs a lot of games that they probably should have lost.
He currently has a .927 SV% and 2.24 GAA, with a 19-6-3 record which makes him a strong candidate for the Vezina Trophy this year.
However, as I previously mentioned, Jack Campbell isn’t used to this workload.
The Toronto Maple Leafs Need To Be Careful with Campbell
Heading into this season, the plan was for Petr Mrazek to split starts with Campbell, because he’s a veteran NHL goaltender and can handle the workload. Since Campbell had never played more than 31 games in a season, expecting him to start 60 games seemed like a terrible idea.
However, at this pace, that’s exactly where Campbell is trending and it’s a terrible decision.
As we’ve seen in previous seasons with Freddie Andersen, fatigue is a real issue for goaltenders. They have a marvelous stretch for most of the regular season, but once the playoffs hit, they’re exhausted.
Playing Campbell a ton was a fine idea a month ago because at that time, the Olympics were still an option. Campbell more than likely wasn’t going to represent Team USA and would have had three weeks of legitimate rest to reset his batteries.
That time-off could have been incredibly valuable for him and he could have continued on the path of 55-60 games started, but that rest isn’t happening anymore.
Instead, the team has a ton of games to play in February as make-up’s to the ones they missed due to Covid.
By all accounts, Mrazek is completely healthy and can play. Although he couldn’t secure the win against the worst team in the NHL (Arizona Coyotes), the team needs to trust that he can win them a few games. Especially with Campbell currently struggling.
Even if they’re 5-4 wins, the Leafs need to battle for Mrazek and give Campbell a few off-nights because if they don’t, he’s going to run out of gas and you’re going to waste an unbelievable talent.
Winning the North Division is obviously a priority, but having a healthy Campbell is way more important. If Campbell isn’t fully-rested and ready for the playoffs, this team wont’ win anything. Toronto must give Mrazek more starts and give Campbell nights off, even if they’re not on a back-to-back.