Toronto Maple Leafs Need to Know How Often Non-Star Goalies Win Stanley Cups
Are the Toronto Maple Leafs in good shape in net?
The Toronto Maple Leafs have never paired Auston Matthews with an elite goalie.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have never gotten by the second round, and have one just a single playoff series in the Auston Matthews Era.
It seemed to me that the Leafs should take every asset they have and correct that. I figured that with Jusse Saros rumored to be available, the opportunity to pair Mattews with one of the five best goalies alive had finally presented itself.
Alas, Saros re-signed. Markstrom was traded to New Jersey. Ullmark went to Ottawas, and the Leafs settled.
While they do not have an elite goalie, the Leafs have two goalies with upside, but they also have two goalies who have a combined 150 games played in their careers.
Therefore, it's worth asking how often teams win the Stanley Cup without a star goalie.
Toronto Maple Leafs Need to Know How Often Non-Star Goalies Win Stanley Cups
This year the Panthers won the Stanley Cup with Sergei Bobrovsky. He is a superstar, has a ten million dollar contract and will go to the Hall of Fame when he retires.
The 2023 Las Vegas Golden Knights won the Cup with an Aiden Hill/ Logan Thompson combo.
The 2022 Colorado Avalanche won with Darcey Kuemper.
The 2020 and 2021 Cups were won by the Tampa Bay Lightning, who have Andrei Vasileskiy.
In 2019 the Cup was won by the Blues and Jordan Binnington - a rookie who has gone on to be a more or less elite goalie since then.
Overall, the recent Cup winners suggest it's probably better to have an elite goalie than not. Kuemper and Bobrovsky are guys who have had up and down careers, but their teams were a lot more excited to get them than Leafs fans were when they picked up Stolarz.
Four of the last five Cups have been won by Vasilevskiy, Bobrovsky and Kuemper. That is strongly suggestive to teams wanting to win that they shoudl have an elite goalie.
The Aiden Hill Cup win can be ignored because through a comination of luck and cheating, the Knights had a ridiculous roster the Leafs couldn't hope to emulate short of Marner being injured for the full season, then using his cap hit to bring in an elite player and resting Marner until the playoffs when there is no salary cap.
The Blues win is the closest thing to what the Leafs are trying to accomplish with Woll in net, however they were a last place team in January before going on a Miracle Run, and aren't really a good comparison to anyone.
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Unfortunately, there isn't a team that has won the Stanley Cup recently that was a B-level contender with two question marks in net. Goalies in the NHL are random, but it pays to have one of the best ones on your team.