The Toronto Maple Leafs lost in the playoffs when their starting goalie predictably flopped, and their top prospect, Joseph Woll, was unable to go for Game Seven due to being one of the most injury prone players in the NHL.
Therefore, the Toronto Maple Leafs need a goalie.
The Nashville Predators have a 29 year-old franchise goalie who is due for a raise that is going to probably double his salary.
Are the Predators in a position where doing that makes any sense to them?
Welcome to the Summer of Saros.
The Toronto Maple Leafs Need to Make Jusse Saros Trade Now
The Toronto Maple Leafs don't have long to act.
If there is an actual top-five goalie in the NHL available to acquire, they won't be the only team involved. Additionally, there is always the chance the Predators and Saros work out a contract.
Actually acquiring Saros may be a longshot, but the Leafs have to try. They haven't had a reliable goalie since they let Freddie Anderson go, and they haven't had one of the best goalies in the NHL since the days of Ed Belfour and Curtis Joseph.
The Leafs have some of the best players in the NHL, but they've never augmented them with a top goalie, and it's time to try doing that. Connor Hellebuyck, Andrei Vasilevski, Ilya Sorokin, Igor Shesterkin and Jake Oettinger are clearly not going to be available.
Jacob Markstrom is old. John Gibson is old. Laurent Broissant is one of the dumbest ideas I've ever heard. Maybe Linus Ulmark is available, but I'd rather bet on Jusse Saros, as Ulmark is someone who has only ever been a star as a part of a tandem situation.
Saros has played over 60 games in each of the last three seasons. He has a career .917 save percentage. Ilya Samsonov's career save percentage is .902
The Toronto Maple Leafs should be prepared to pay anything short of Mitch Marner or Matthews Knies or Easton Cowan to make this happen.
A first round pick, Fraser Minten and Top Niemela? Just a thought. I don't know what the Predators would want, and there aren't that many trades of an elite goalie to go by.
On one hand Saros is a pending UFA who needs to be re-signed, so there is an argument that that lessens his value. On the other hand, he only makes a $5 million cap-hit so I can see how getting that one cheap year might skyrocket his value.
The Leafs would put themselves in a great position with both their star forward Mitch Marner and their franchise goalie playing for a big contract. It never hurts to have a couple of motivated superstars, even if there might be some distractions as well.
Bottom line: if the Leafs don't get Saros, they likely are playing another year of Marner and Matthews' Primes without the benefit of an elite goalie. There isn't a more obvious move, so they should just get it done right away.