The Toronto Maple Leafs Cannot Possible Follow Through on Strange Goalie Rumour
The Toronto Maple Leafs need many things, but one of those things is so glaringly obvious that it dwarfs all concerns:
The Toronto Maple Leafs need a star goalie.
They don't need a good tandem combo. They don't need a reclamation project or a value signing.
They need a legitamate top-five goalie in the NHL.
It is basically the only thing they've never tried, and it's time to try it.
The Toronto Maple Leafs Cannot Possible Follow Through on Strange Goalie Rumour
Which is why recent rumors about signing the Winnipeg Jets back-up goalie are so frustrating.
Laurent Brossoit is a perfectly fine back-up goalie, but he doesn't inspire fear in opponents. He has no upside, and he won't be any better than Ilya Samsonov, unless the Leafs get very lucky.
The Leafs rumours this summer - trading Marner, trading Liljegren, Robertson or Rielly, re-signing Bertuzzi and Domi - are uninspirinig and dumb. The worst one though has to be about Laurent Brossoit.
Joseph Woll is a great goalie - when he's healthy. It would be fanstastic if they developed a homegrown starting goalie and didn't have to pay him much of a cap hit. Then they could confidently buy a goalie like Brossoit in free-agency and have a lot more money to use at other positions.
Unfortunately, going back to 2020-21 he has played in a combined 98 playoff and regular season games. Over the last four seasons, that is under 25 games per year.
Now, obviously some of that is from the league's being shutdown for Covid, but it's still not a lot of games by any measure. The fact is, Woll is easily hurt and can't be relied upon.
It is insanely risky to try to win a Stanley Cup with Joseph Woll + a Career Back-Up like Laurent Brossoit.
There is just too good of a chance that your'e in the playoffs next season in an elimination game with Brossoit starting and Martin Jones backing up. That's crazy.
Didn't the Leafs just go cheap on goalies and pay dearly for it? The Woll/Samsonov combo was a disaster - Samsonov had to go waivers, Woll was hurt and the team had to rely on Martin Jones to avoid disaster. Then, in the playoffs, Woll stepped up but was injured for game seven, illistrating exactly why he can't be the 1B in a tandem for a team that wants to win the Stanley Cup.
Far better than to pursue the available Jussu Saros at all costs, short of Mitch Marner. If that doesn't work out, identify another starter with star-level attributes and go after him. What they can't do is go back to the Samsonov/Woll set-up that failed them so spectacularly this season.
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So, no offense to Laurent Brossoit, but this is a terrible idea.