The Toronto Maple Leafs recently made one of the biggest free agency splashes in recent memory when they signed two-time Stanley Cup champion and Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky. After much speculation on whether the 37-year-old netminder would actually land in Toronto, the blue paint has now been upgraded.
While the signing is highly substantial, it now questions the NHL playing time of a promising goalie already in the Leafs' system, that being Artur Akhtyamov. After what was a dominant season for the 24-year-old goaltender, capped off by a Calder Cup title, the chances of getting solid minutes in net have now vanished rapidly.
When the Leafs traded Joseph Woll and another rising-star goalie, Dennis Hildeby, earlier this offseason, it looked like the net would belong mainly to both Akhtyamov and Anthony Stolarz. Now, it belongs to the two veteran goalies.
Bobrovsky signed a three-year deal, $21 million deal a couple of days back, which could basically hold out Akhtyamov from the NHL until the contract is up, or almost finished. The youngster undoubtedly deserves a fair shot in the NHL, especially after a huge playoff run with the Toronto Marlies, where he also secured the nod for AHL playoff MVP with a .923 save percentage and was arguably the sole reason the Marlies made the deep run.
NHL playing time for Akhtyamov is still possible under one condition
While it's obviously premature that Akhtyamov is ruled out from any chance at the NHL level this year, we could see him take the ice only if either Stolarz or Bobrovsky are injured or ill. This, of course, might not soften the blow for Akhtyamov because Bobrovsky was healthy for a good chunk of his tenure with the Florida Panthers, specifically during the back-to-back Cup titles a couple of years back.
Stolarz, however, battled injuries last year, but would ideally want to bounce back significantly, especially with his old running mate in net on the team. This realistically might be the only way Akhtyamov sees NHL ice this season. Of course, it isn't wishing injury on either Bobrovsky or Stolarz just so Akhtyamov could play, but just a vision of how he will be able to get some reps in at the show this season.
The silver lining on what looks like a dark cloud for the near future of the 24-year-old Russian is that now he can fully dominate in the AHL with the Marlies and now play an even bigger part by aiming for back-to-back Calder Cup titles.
Nonetheless, signing Bobrovsky was a major step in the direction of contention for the Maple Leafs and while we still await seeing Akhtyamov wearing the Leafs' crest full-time, meeting in the middle and having him fill in when needed in the NHL is what we'll have to settle for, for now at least.
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