The Toronto Maple Leafs will enter the new season with two new goalies.
Though there seems to be quite a lot of consternation regarding the Toronto Maple Leafs choices in net, it should be remembered that the position is so volatile that there is almost no value in paying for goalies (either in the form of assets in a trade or cap hit) unless they are one of a very small group of constant ones (of which there are between four and six).
Because the chances of getting a good season do not drastically increase when you go for “name brand” goalies who maybe are not quite so consistent (think most goalies whose names you know that aren’t currently playing for NY, Tampa, Winnipeg or the Islanders) the Leafs have chose to hunt the bargain bins for the upcoming season.
It will likely work out.
Reasons to Believe in the Toronto Maple Leafs Goalies
The Senators paid the Leafs to take Matt Murray, who has two Stanley Cups and is the youngest goalie to ever win 25 NHL playoff games. That is one good reason to believe in him.
Maybe has been bad the last couple of seasons, but he’s still younger than Jack Campbell was when Jack Campbell “turned his career around” by getting traded to Toronto, and Campbell never had two Cups when he did so. That is another reason.
The pessimism surrounding Murray is understandable, but it has more to do with the Leafs losing every year in the first round than anything else.
I don’t think Colorado fans are so upset about moving from Darcy Kuemper to Alexander Georgiev, which is a much worse bet than the Leafs are making since, Kuemper was better than Campbell and there is zero evidence to suggest Georgiev is as good as Matt Murray.
Of course, they won the Stanley Cup, so they are playing with house-money, but that’s really beside the point.
Another reason to be optimistic about Matt Murray is that he twice usurped Marc-Andre Fleury to be the starting goalie for a Cup winning team. Fleury was a #1 overall pick, a team-legend, and one of the best goalies of his generation.
If the Toronto Maple Leafs were starting Marc Andre Fleury in net this season, people would be a lot happier, even though Fleury is ten years older and much of the success of his career, or at least much of his reputation as a Great Goalie, is ironically due to Matt Murray putting two Stanley Cups besides his (Fleury’s) name.
Perception is everything, and the Leafs choice in net has been a lightning rod for how people feel about the team. Regardless though, there are at least a few reason to believe in Matt Murray, even if you can’t get your head around the success or failure of NHL goalies being nearly random.