It’s time to go shopping. The Toronto Maple Leafs have openings at both their goaltending positions after trading Petr Mrazek to Chicago at the cost of moving down a dozen spots in the NHL Draft. Said draft is today and will begin at 11am EST and should end hopefully before the next full moon (funnily enough that’s free agency day).

With Mrazek’s contract off the books, the Leafs have $10.2 million to fill those two spots in net, along with filling out the roster with RFAs Rasmus Sandin, Pierre Engvall, and Ondřej Kaše, however they go. So in reality the Leafs don’t actually have $10.2 million to spend on their two goalies. They need to make sure they have 12 forwards and 6 or 7 defensemen as well.

At the moment I think the Leafs have to expect they’ll have Sandin for next season as the 7th defenseman and make adjustments should things go awry. Most likely they’ll be able to replace that extra spot with a cheaper contract. To keep things simple, I’ll also assign Engvall and Kaše’s qualifying offers to them, hoping the raise Engvall gets balances out with any amount of discount they can get on Kaše.

Katya did a calculation similar to this last month. Her number without Mrazek is $7.7 million with 19 skaters (12F, 7D) and zero goalies, so let’s go with that.

What Dubas has to Say

Wait wait wait, hold the phones. Kyle Dubas said he’s not in the market for two goalies, but just one with Erik Källgren or Joseph Woll competing for the backup job.

No offense but I don’t exactly believe him, especially when he said this:

So yeah, let’s keep shopping for two goalies.

Off the Board

Marc-Andre Fleury - re-signed by Minnesota

Initially reported as a one year deal, Fleury got two years at $3.5 million.

Alexander Georgiev - traded to Colorado

Traded for a couple mid-round picks, Colorado expects Georgiev to be their starter with Pavel Francouz the backup. They tried to get Kuemper back but couldn’t fit his number (we’ll talk about that later).

Casey DeSmith - re-signed by Pittsburgh

Signed for two years at $1.8 million. Pittsburgh goes cheap and unreliable with their goalies because they simply can’t afford anything else.

The UFAs

Darcy Kuemper

Looking for Philipp Grubauer 6x6 contract (approx.) but is going to start next year at the age of 32. Won the Stanley Cup, if that’s worth anything.

Jack Campbell

Likely looking for between $5 million and $6 million on a similarly long deal as Kuemper. Talks apparently stalled between Campbell and the Leafs a while back and never got going again. If the Leafs think they can find a 35-40 game backup and fit the two under the cap, maybe it’s worth circling around.

Ville Husso

The youngest of these three goalies (27) and probably also the cheapest. I think his closest comparable is Chris Driedger, who signed for $3.5 million for three years with Seattle as the 1B. Both only had a season and a half of NHL experience before going UFA. Linus Ullmark is another that has been brought up as a comparable, but he had a lot longer of an NHL track record.

Martin Jones, Kevin Lankinen, Braden Holtby, Jon Gillies, Eric Comrie, etc

These are the true backups. Lankinen and Comrie are somewhat interesting as they’re both 27 when the season starts. Lankinen had an awful year, but maybe that’s chalked up to the Chicago defense he was placed behind. Good luck, Petr.

If it’s Kuemper, I would expect one of these guys to also be signed.

If it’s Campbell, well, we already know we can’t trust him to play a starter’s workload so that makes him difficult to fit.

The RFAs

Jake Oettinger ($925k last season)

The Stars have a really good goalie here and I don’t think they’ll ever trade him. An offer sheet is very unlikely, and if there was one, I’d expect Dallas to match anyway.

Ilya Samsonov ($2 million last season) and Vitek Vanecek ($720k last season)

The Capitals are planning to give both their goalies their qualifying offers, but they seem unhappy with them as a pairing. Samsonov being a big headache off the ice is the main thing that comes to mind. You might see someone like Holtby go back to them to try and stabilize that tandem, leaving Vanecek available via trade.

I like Vanecek as a backup and I know Washington likes him too as they paid a second round pick to Seattle to keep him in the expansion draft. Or maybe management blows a fuse on Samsonov and he’s on the trade block. More surprising things have happened.

Samuel Montembeault ($750k last season)

Played well enough for the Canadiens, which is a very different job from trying to win.

Kaapo Kähkönen ($725k last season)

Minnesota apparently didn’t want him at the trade deadline, bringing in Fleury instead. Now Kähkönen is in San Jose where he’ll probably be re-signed. Minnesota’s lack of confidence in a young guy like him does worry me.

The Trade Candidates

Cam Talbot 1 x $3.67 million, 34 years old

The Wild want to keep him as part of a tandem with Fleury. Their management said they’re going to try and convince Talbot to stay. If he wants out, he becomes an option.

Jake Allen 1 x $2.875 million, 32 years old

The Habs have been trying to trade Allen for the past year. He’ll probably come cheaper than the third round pick he was acquired from St. Louis for. Allen might go to one of the teams mentioned above, opening space for one of their goalies coming here.

Antti Raanta 1 x $2 million, 34 years old

Let’s try the other old Carolina backup this time. Raanta might see himself on the outside looking in of the Hurricanes want to try their new young goalie Pyotr Kochetkov, or maybe they’ll trade the kid instead.

Adin Hill 1 x $2.175 million, 26 years old

Very big goalie (6’6”!) and could be on the outside in San Jose where they already have Reimer and the newly acquired Kahkonen.

James Reimer 1 x $2.25 million, 35 years old

Very nice goalie (13/10!) and could be on the outside in San Jose where they already have Hill and the newly acquired Kahkonen.

Matt Murray 2 x $6.25 million, 30 years old

You know all about him. The only trade worth making with Ottawa would have to include full 50% retention. From the Soo.

Pick a goalie, top two get acquired by the Leafs

Darcy Kuemper102
Jack Campbell155
Ville Husso172
Martin Jones9
Kevin Lankinen5
Braden Holtby22
Jon Gillies0
Eric Comrie35
Jake Oettinger97
Ilya Samsonov22
Vitek Vanecek6
Samuel Montembeault6
Kaapo Kähkönen 7
Cam Talbot23
Jake Allen30
Antti Raanta13
Adin Hill37
James Reimer77

Various Leafs and Branches

Maple Leafs trade Petr Mrázek | by: Katya

2022 NHL Draft round one recap [including the trades] | by: Seldo

2022 NHL Draft: Who did the Leafs previously pick at these spots? | by: Seldo

Transcript: Kyle Dubas on his goaltending situation | by: MLHS

See you later this morning!

From The Branches