Toronto Maple Leafs: What About Going All-In On Experience In Net?

The free agent market right now has two Stanley Cup winning goaltenders available; maybe the Toronto Maple Leafs should go all-in on experience.

Those two Stanley Cup winning goalies are Marc-Andre Fleury and Braden Holtby, who even though they’re now the wrong side of thirty certainly would be a formidable tandem for a season or two.

It may sound like a completely absurd and crazy idea, but it could work on many levels, namely giving the Leafs both stability and experience between the pipes, while also likely being cheaper than renewing Jack Campbell, which itself feels increasingly unlikely.

Of course, such a deal would only really solve the problem short-term, but having these two names in the organization would surely only offer value to the teams’ young goaltenders.

The Toronto Maple Leafs Could Do Far Worse In Net

Right now, you can figure the asking price is around a $5 million annual salary for Jack Campbell, just glancing at a few comparable deals. Couple that with the $3.8 million that the Toronto Maple Leafs are paying Petr Mrazek and you’re talking nearly $9 million in net.

Assuming a significant pay cut from his current $7 million cap hit, pencil in Fleury at around the $2 to $2.5 million mark and Braden Holtby around the same price; you’re talking a discount of nearly $4 million on the present pair.

Of course, the Toronto Maple Leafs have to commit to not moving forward with Jack Campbell and also find a way to shake free of Petr Mrazek but assuming they’re both achievable, maybe experience is key.

Both Braden Holtby and Marc-Andre Fleury have been historically elite and are able to steal games. Certainly much more so, even in recent years than Petr Mrazek, while Jack Campbell has been a bit of a rollercoaster with significant peaks and troughs.

Even last season despite spending most of his time behind a very average Chicago Blackhawks team, Fleury still posted a 2.90 goals against average and 0.908 save percentage. (stats hockey reference.com).

Likewise, Holtby delivered the goods with the Dallas Stars with a 2.78 goals against average nd 0.913 save percentage, albeit experiencing a first injury-hit season of his NHL career.

While neither necessarily compare as well to Campbell’s numbers ast year, you must factor the teams each guy was behind.

Having their Stanley Cup winning pedigree between the pipes surely could only benefit the likes of Erik Kallgren, but more so Joseph Woll and Hobey Baker winner Dryden McKay, who the Toronto Maple Leafs will hope can step up to the NHL level eventually.

Doubling down on such an experienced duo is obviously a very short-term fix but it would buy the Toronto Maple Leafs some time to find their true future in net.

After all, even Jack Campbell is 30 now. The team must at some point either sign or start and develop a goalie to ensure they have youth on their side in net.

Kicking that can down the road for two seasons while giving the net over to this combo certainly reads slightly crazy but it could just work.