The Toronto Maple Leafs need a new goalie.
Currently, the Toronto Maple Leafs have Petr Mrazek under contract for next season, and Jack Campbell as a pending Unrestricted Free Agent.
They will be working to get out from under Mrazek’s contract (something which was likely the plan from day one) and are unlikely, in my opinion, to bring Campbell back, as he will be seeking more money than he can possibly be worth.
Therefore the Leafs need a goalie.
John Gibson, a FORMER top goalie in the NHL, is so obviously available that he had to speak out and say he hadn’t asked for a trade.
But the Leafs don’t need or want Gibson, and that should be obvious to anyone. Let me make this clear: Gibson has declined for three straight seasons and has an atrocious contract. The Leafs won’t take him for free.
John Gibson Alone a Horrendous Idea, But It Gets Worse
And of course, if there is a Leafs rumour, you can bet someone who is creatively bankrupt will do the absolute laziest thing and throw William Nylander in there.
A Nylander for Gibson trade is so stupid, no serious person would even float the idea. I am certainty not going to link to it. My favorite part is how the Leafs can’t just get a goalie, they have to give away a franchise level player on one of the NHL’s best contracts for a bad goalie who has one of the NHL’s worst contracts.
Like, honestly, do people have something personal against Nylander? How else could you convince yourself that is a workable move? If Marjorie Taylor Green was a hockey analyst, that would likely be the kind of idea she would come up with.
The Leafs wouldn’t trade Justin Holl straight up for John Gibson, but somehow they are sending away a 34 goal scoring point-per-game superstar instead? OK !
Nylander for Gibson is some Trump-level nonsense. The only people (outside of Anaheim) who benefit from that braindead trade are Peter Chiarlli and Gord Stellick. #Leafsforever
— Editor in Leaf (@EditorinLeaf) June 14, 2022
John Gibson has five seasons left at a $6.4 million dollar cap hit with full no-trade protection. He has three straight seasons of decline.
Yes, that is the actual contract of a guy that people who consider Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews overpaid think we should get.
49 Goalies have played at least 3000 minutes of hockey at 5v5 in the last three seasons. John Gibson ranks 41st in save percentage, for “goals saved above expected” he ranks 45th, and he ranks 27th in high-danger save percentage. (Naturalstattrick.com).
This guy is a turkey.
At double retention, with the NTC waived, and the Ducks paying the Leafs to take him, it might be worth the gamble. Until then, rest assured, Gord Stellick’s title as the worst GM in Toronto Maple Leafs history is completely safe.
The Leafs aren’t trading for John Gibson, and they sure as heck aren’t trading one of their best players for him. As a guy whose job it is to constantly wade into the deep end of the Toronto Maple Leafs Internet, I can assure you I have never, not even once, heard of a worse or dumber idea than trading Nylander for John Gibson.
Laughable, but also delightfully hilarious. Good times!