Toronto Maple Leafs: Kyle Dubas Avoided a Goaltending Disaster
Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas had a difficult decision to make at the end of last season. Keep number one goaltender Jack Campbell or lose him in free agency.
Jack Campbell and his agent set their asking price at $5 million a season for five seasons. That price was too high for Dubas, so he walked away and set his sights on finding a new goaltender. To make matters more complicated, Dubas also traded away goaltender Petr Mrazek.
With Campbell and Mrazek gone, Dubas set his sights on putting together a new goaltending tandem. First, Dubas acquired Matt Murray from the Ottawa Senators on July 11th, 2022. The trade sent Murray, a 2023 3rd-round pick, and a 2024 7th-round pick to Toronto for future considerations. The Senators also retained 25% of Murray’s salary cap hit.
On July 13th, 2022, the Toronto Maple Leafs signed free agent goaltender Ilya Samsonov to a one-year contract worth $1.8 million. Samsonov was made available as an unrestricted free agent because the Washington Capitals did not send him a qualifying offer. For Dubas, Samsonov will be an RFA after this season, which allows Toronto to control his rights.
(Salary cap info from: capfriendly.com)
Toronto Maple Leafs New Tandem Better Than Campbell and Mrazek
Kyle Dubas and the Toronto Maple Leafs avoided a disaster by letting Campbell go as a free agent. Campbell has a 9-8-1 record through 19 games.
He has a .877 SV% and a 3.68 GAA. The former Maple Leaf has allowed four or more goals eight times this season. Campbell’s new team, the Edmonton Oilers, has already pushed Campbell into the backup goaltending role and given 24-year-old Stuart Skinner the starting role.
It will be a long five years for Edmonton if they’re paying Campbell $5 million to be their backup. (Stats from hockey-reference.com)
Petr Mrazek is having an even worse time playing with the Chicago Blackhawks. He has a record of 2-10-1 through 14 games, with a .878 SV% and a 4.19 GAA. Mrazek’s play is one of the reasons why the Blackhawks are the worst team in the NHL right now. Chicago has Mrazek under contract until the end of the 2023-24 season at $3.8 million.
If Kyle Dubas kept Petr Mrazek and re-signed Jack Campbell, the Toronto Maple Leafs would have a tandem that makes a combined $8.8 million. That is a lot of money to spend on goaltending with sub .900 SV% and sub 3.00 GAA. Toronto is fairing much better with Murray and Samsonov.
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At the time of this writing, Murray has a record of 10-4-2 with a .916 SV% and a 2.57 GAA. Samsonov has a 12-3-1 record with a .916 SV% and a 2.29 GAA. Safe to say the Toronto Maple Leafs are better off with Murray and Samsonov over Campbell and Mrazek.