5 Different Options for the Toronto Maple Leafs in Net Next Season
With the NHL season winding down offseason topics are starting to be discussed. One big one the Toronto Maple Leafs are looking at is who is going to start in the net next season.
Is Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager Brad Treliving going to try to swing a big deal for a star goalie or are we going to get a season with Joseph Woll as the starter?
There is no question they need an upgrade from what was provided last year. Samsonov can't be back and Woll's health is a question mark regardless of whatever talent he has.
If there is a big trade that is possible for a star goalie I think the Leafs should be all over that.
While I do think acquiring a star goalie is the way Treliving should go, there are only so many star goalies that are available for trade. The reality is we may go into next season with a tandem so I will provide options for tandem goalies.
Juuse Saros
With the Marner trade rumours swirling Saros has been a name that has come up quite often in Leafs nation. Saros would instantly give the Leafs a stud in net but they would have to pay him after this upcoming season. Saros is coming off a bit of a down year by his standards however it was still a solid year. He posted a .906 save percentage, 3.53 goals saved above average, and a 7.51 goals saved above expected (All stats from EvolvingHockey.com).
Nashville has a young goalie prospect, Yaroslav Askarov who tore up the AHL this year and is looking to take the next step in the NHL so Nashville may move off of Saros. This would be a blockbuster deal and that's why his name pops up whenever potential Marner deals are brought up.
Jacob Markstrom
Treliving is familiar with Markstrom as he signed him to a six-year deal with an Average Annual Value of six million dollars in 2020 (All contract statistics from CapFriendly.com).
Markstrom is coming off a great year playing behind a rough Flames team. He posted a,905 save percentage, a 2.17 goals saved above average and a 28.93 goals saved above expected. It looked as though he was going to be dealt to New Jersey at the trade deadline but the Flames and Devils front offices couldn't get a deal done.
Treliving will have competition in the race for Markstrom so it will be interesting to see what the cost would be to get him out of Calgary.
Laurent Brossoit
The first two options I've brought up are star goalies who can play most games for this team. Brossoit is a free agent so the Leafs would only be committing cap space to this acquisition. The flaw with this option is the Leafs would be putting a lot of trust in Joseph Woll who has serious injury concerns.
Brossoit had a good season where he was the backup in Winnipeg behind Connor Hellebuyck. Brossoit played 23 games last season posting a .927 save percentage, a 14.36 goals saved above average and a 17.82 goals saved above expected.
He had a great year however, with Woll having his injury concerns there is strong a chance that Brossoit is going to have to play a lot more than the 23 games he played last year. He has never played more than 24 games in a single season so it would be a question mark as to how he will handle an increased workload.
If Treliving decides to go with Brossoit, they would also need to have another veteran goalie in the AHL like they did this past year with Martin Jones. Perhaps you can bring Jones back to play the same role?
Cam Talbot
Talbot is another free agent option where the Leafs would still be relying on Woll a lot.
The 36-year-old is coming off a good season in LA where he played 54 games posting a .913 save percentage, a 12.17 goals saved above average and a 15.01 goals saved above expected. When the playoffs rolled around the Kings were ultimately overmatched by the Edmonton Oilers. Talbot started the first three games where he posted a .861 save percentage, a -4.92 goals saved above average and a -3.08 goals saved above expected. Former Leaf David Rittich eventually took the job from Talbot and started the last two games of the series.
Talbot is a veteran presence who did start a good chunk of games last year however I think the Leafs could be in some trouble if they plan to start him in over 50 games again this season. He could be a good option as a tandem for Woll but the injury concerns for Woll have to be taken into consideration.
Anthony Stolarz
Anthony Stolarz started 27 games for Florida this year which is one game off his career high. He had a great year posting a .925 save percentage, 13.38 goals saved above average and a 21.7 goals saved above expected.
Stolarz has been great this year and should be a pretty cheap deal but the limited number of games played goes back to the same point I've made for Brossoit and Talbot. You need a lot out of Woll or you bring in a guy like Martin Jones and split the starts three ways.
After going through the options, there aren't a lot of great options for Treliving unless a trade for a guy that isn't being talked about right now arises.
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If the Leafs can find a way to maintain Woll's body and get more starts out of him it would be huge. His talent is obvious, he's calm and controlled in his net and has performed for the Leafs when he has played but you can't ignore the injuries.