The field of unrestricted free agent goaltenders took a big hit yesterday with contract extension of Evgeni Nabokov for one year at a fairly reasonable $2.75 Million price tag. The veteran netminder turns 37 this summer, but has played very well (2.56 GAA, .912 save %, 40 GP) for an Islanders club that is not particularly strong defensively and may have been able to make more on the open market for teams in desperate need of experience between the pipes.
Leafs coach Randy Carlyle has given both Jonas Gustavsson and James Reimer a string of games to determine if either has what it takes to be the main guy going into next seasons and unless they have done something subtle that no one has picked up on, neither have made a strong case.
With Reimer only 23 years old and signed for another two seasons, it is likely that he will remain with the Leafs and that Gustavsson, who has frustratingly inconsistent over three seasons, will be allowed to shop his wears in free agency on July 1.
But if that is the case, where do the Leafs go for a new goaltender? Is there anyone out there that could be the dependable backstop that this team has been without since before the lockout?
With Nabokov off the market, 28 year old Josh Harding becomes the most attractive UFA goalie and like Gustavsson, he has not proved that he can be anything more than a good backup. The rest of the available players are a collection of aged veterans who could provide good support for Reimer, if the Leafs still have confidence that he can rebound from his sophomore struggles.
If however, GM Brian Burke thinks that someone new needs to be brought in to handle the majority of the duties, he faces a dilemma. Two characteristics are intrinsically necessary for a goaltender to be successful in Toronto; he needs to be talented and he needs to be able to handle the pressure and scrutiny of the most critical hockey market in the world. As we have seen in the last decade, both Vesa Toskala and Andrew Raycroft had neither of those traits were disastrous failures because of that.
There are clubs that are facing potential salary cap quandaries over the summer and may be forced to move their promising backups. Nashville faces the specter of losing Ryan Suter and signing Alex Radulov this summer and locking up Shea Weber before the end of next season, which makes re-signing Anders Lindback a luxury they can’t afford. The Canucks and Bruins will have the task of signing Corey Schnieder and Tuukka Rask to long term deals, which might be a challenge if either are tired of being second fiddle behind Roberto Luongo and Tim Thomas. The problem with all of these options is that Toronto would have to trade tangible assets to acquire them and then sign them to multi-year deals without knowing for sure if they could handle the center of the hockey universe.
There are others like 23 year olds Jonathan Bernier and Steve Mason who have one year left on contracts, but both have question marks and would offer no more certainty in goal than Reimer and Gustavsson currently do.
With his tenuous position in Toronto, Burke should start thinking outside the box and consider a bold move to improve his goaltending situation for the next decade. The way to do that is to tender Habs goaltender Carey Price an offer sheet.
Price is 24, one of the best goaltenders in the league and has withstood the rabid media and fans in Montreal since being drafted 5th overall in 2005, so questions of talent and handling pressure are not there. The Leafs would have to offer a deal that Montreal might hesitate to match, say 10 years, $77 Million. The compensation for that deal would be two first-round picks, a second and third.
Montreal would likely match any offer sheet, but they might opt to take the package of draft picks instead of facing the public relations nightmare of their signature player trying to sign with their biggest rival. At the least, it would severely hamper a division rival’s salary cap structure.
Do you think that Burke should go bold and shoot for the big time goalie in Price or do you think the answer for next season lies in one of the less proven RFA’s???
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