Would Anyone Take Petr Mrazek from the Toronto Maple Leafs?

The Toronto Maple Leafs have had goalie issues for a few months now.  Rumours continue to swirl before the NHL trade deadline despite Kyle Dubas giving his goaltending tandem of Jack Campbell and Petr Mrazek his vote of confidence.

It could be expected that Petr Mrazek would have a slow start this season after suffering a groin injury in October that he reaggravated in November, but now after playing 17 NHL games for the Toronto Maple Leafs, things aren’t looking any better for the 10-year veteran goaltender.

Petr Mrazek now has the second worst save percentage in the NHL for any goaltender who has played at least 13 games.  The only goaltender below him is surprisingly Joonas Korpisalo who has played 19 games and is only .001% behind Mrazek.

With Erik Kallgren playing his first NHL games recently, Petr Mrazek may be falling behind Kallgren and Joseph Woll in the Toronto Maple Leafs goaltending depth chart.

There are so many questions involving the Toronto Maple Leafs goaltending right now.  The questions I’m addressing right now are: is Petr Mrazek expendable and if so, are there NHL teams that would take him?

Should the Toronto Maple Leafs Move Petr Mrazek?

The Toronto Maple Leafs have a few options when it comes to dealing with Petr Mrazek: they could trade him, they could put him through waivers or they could keep him.

Mrazek carries a $3.8 million cap hit and the cap space generated by moving him could help them make a bigger splash to bolster their roster before the NHL Trade Deadline.  If the Toronto Maple Leafs put Mrazek on waivers and he cleared, they would save $1.125 million in cap space.

Most of the saved cap space would be eaten up by the goalie taking over the back-up roll if the Leafs were to promote Kallgren, Woll, Carter Hutton, Michael Hutchinson or anyone else in their system.  If they were to trade for a goaltender, they would most likely make more than $1.125 million.

Honestly, the most likely scenario is that the Toronto Maple Leafs will keep Petr Mrazek and hope he bounces back.  Mrazek had a stretch like this earlier in his career after he was traded to the Philadelphia Flyer in 2018.  In 17 games with the Flyers, Mrazek had a .891 save percentage, but bounced back with the Carolina Hurricanes the next season.

Would Anyone Take Petr Mrazek from the Toronto Maple Leafs?

The Toronto Maple Leafs managed to move Nick Ritchie in a favourable deal, and I’m sure they could do the same with Mrazek.  If the Leafs put Mrazek on waivers, I’m sure someone would take him as well.

Petr Mrazek is having a terrible season, but I’m sure some NHL teams will remember how good he was in previous seasons (including last year) and be willing to take a chance on him thinking he can bounce back.

If the Chicago Blackhawks move Marc-Andre Fleury before the NHL Trade Deadline, they’ll be looking for another goaltender.  Their current back up, Kevin Lankinen, is putting up stats similar to Mrazek this season.

I don’t think many playoff teams are desperate enough to take a chance of a goaltender having a bad season, but the Edmonton Oilers and Washington Capitals seem to be the most desperate right now.

Perhaps the most intriguing landing spot for Petr Mrazek is the Detroit Red Wings, the team he began his career with.  Detroit has lots of cap space and terrible goaltending this season.  Mrazek could be a great mentor to former Carolina Hurricanes teammate, Alex Nedeljkovic.

I doubt the Toronto Maple Leafs would move Petr Mrazek without acquiring another goaltender first.  Even if Kallgren or Woll outperform Mrazek for the rest of the regular season, they’re too inexperienced to take over in the playoffs if Campbell gets hurts.  We’ll have to wait and see what happens at the deadline.