It'll come as no surprise to anyone that has perused the Maple Leafs' statistics this year that they are in dire need of NHL-quality goaltending. That fact has been true for every summer since the lockout. The team's hands were tied that first year because of JFJ's brilliant decision to extend Crazy Eddie's contract before the lockout. Then, rather than sign Raycroft to an offer sheet, he traded Tuukka Rask to the Bruins for former Calder Trophy winner Andrew Raycroft who will soon be a former NHLer. Despite tying a club record for wins (vomit) Raycroft was a disaster which prompted JFJ to once again trade draft picks for Toskala in the hopes of challenging both to be better. Luckily for him, the Sharks chose the Leafs' 2007 13th overall pick rather than their 7th overall pick from 2008 or they could have been the proud new owners of Our Luke and Saviour. Unluckily for his chances of being a GM anywhere else Toskala struggled without competition and he was overworked.
All of this wheeling and dealing has been compounded by Default Goalie of the Future Justin Pogge's early struggles at the NHL level. Toskala showed some flashes of brilliance before getting shut down for the year, the GRBRZRKR has been (frustratingly?) good for the most part since he was acquired, Pogge still seems raw, and Burke is on the prowl for solutions as goaltending represents the greatest obstacle to his desire to compete for the playoffs next season.
Here are the goalie's stats for this year:
Should he sign Gerber to platoon with Toskala while giving Pogge more time on the farm?
Should he bring in the top goaltending prospect outside of the NHL system in Jonas Gustavsson?
Should he give the backup spot to Pogge full-time?
Should he go into the morass of offer sheets and trade?
Question of the Day: What should the Leafs do with their goaltenders?
Sign Gerber and platoon him with Toskala | 41 |
Platoon Toskala with Pogge | 14 |
Sign Gustavsson, platoon him with Toskala, keep Pogge in the minors | 88 |
Sign Gustavsson, trade Toskala, and use Pogge as the backup | 25 |
Sign Josh Harding (MIN) to an offer sheet | 11 |
Trade for Josh Harding (MIN) | 9 |
Sign/Trade for another goalie (mention in comments) | 10 |
Something completely different | 19 |