The Toronto Maple Leafs Dream Goalie
A 209 game sample of NHL goalies who have played at least 1500 minutes over the last three NHL seasons gives us 75 goalies.
Jack Campbell ranks 69th of 75 in high-Danger Save Percentage. That’s enough right there not to sign him.
For three years, Campbell is among the worst goalies in the NHL at saving difficult shots. That makes it extremely easy to let him walk.
Here are the Top 11 Goalies ranked by High Danger Save Percentage over the last Three Years:
- igor Shesterkin
- Ilya Sorokin
- Corey Crawford
- Spencer Knight
- Ville Husso
- Ben Bishop
- Anton Forsberg
- Darcy Kuemper
- Jordan Binnington
- Tuukka Rask
- Andrei Vasilevskiy
Crawford, Knight and Bishop only barely qualify, but Binnington has played 6000 minutes and Vasilevskiy has played 8000. Those guys are awesome and have earned their reputations.
But for me, the goalie who really stands out, is Ilya Sorokin. The Islanders have been great defensively so he hasn’t gotten the credit he deserves, but he ranks second over the last three years at making saves when his team’s defense lets him down (i.e dangerous chances).
The Islanders clearly need to rebuild, and Sorokin’s signed for $4 million for next year and the year after. He is only 26, and while I normally wouldn’t recommend spending a ton of assets on a goalie, I can’t imagine there is someone (outside of Shesterkin, Vasilevskiy or Binnington) to do it on.
Conversely, a rebuilding team who has an elite goalie signed dirt-cheap for two seasons is basically holding a lottery ticket.
The kind of confidence you get from having a no-doubt ELITE goalie would do wonders for this team. The Toronto Maple Leafs are clearly a good team that is having trouble getting over the hump. The psychological factor of having an ace-in-the-hole as their goalie might go a long way.
Therefore, if I was the Toronto Maple Leafs, I would seriously consider making a massive offer for Sorokin. He’s young, he has a history of being among the best in the world, he’s the king of the high-danger chances, and his cap-hit is ridiculously low.
The cost to acquire him would be astronomical, but for the Leafs management, it’s hard to see how they could bet their entire careers and reputations on a goalie who carries any kind of risk. Sorokin checks every single box you would want – he should be available, he has a very cheap contract, and he is elite at saving high-danger shots.