No. 3: Jaroslav Halak
There’s a theme for what the Leafs need right now and it’s a veteran back-up or third-string goaltender.
As previously mentioned, the combination of Samsonov and Woll is fine, but realistically one of them is going to get injure, struggle, or can’t carry an 82-game workload.
Similar to Elliot, Halak is a fantastic choice to serve as the back-up/third-stringer.
For the past four seasons, Halak has been a serviceable back-up, playing on the Boston Bruins, Vancouver Canucks and New York Rangers.
He’s continued to bounce around the league, but his stats have stayed neutral everywhere he’s played.
For the first half of Halak’s career, he was a legitimate starting goaltender and an NHL All-Star, but as he’s gotten older, he’s turned into a solid 1B/2 goalie.
At this point in his career, it’s possible that another team will offer him the back-up position, but if Halak wants to move into a mentoring phase of his career and be on a team that is a real Stanley Cup contender, Toronto could be a perfect fit.
As much as I like Woll, I’d prefer him play more with the Toronto Marlies next year and would have someone like Halak backing up most nights, but it’s unclear what the Leafs want to do yet.
Either way, they should definitely consider Halak as a back-up/third-string option next year.