The Toronto Maple Leafs got off of an early start on reshaping their roster for next season, as they acquired goaltender Jonathan Bernier from the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday for winger Matt Frattin, goaltender Ben Scrivens, a 2nd round pick in either 2014 or 2015 and retaining $500,000 in cap space.
Per Cap Geek, the Leafs will retain $437,500 of Frattin's $925,000 contract for 2013-14 and $62,500 of Scrivens's $612,500 deal, which increases the amount of dead money on the salary cap to $2.5 Million due to the buyouts of Darcy Tucker and Colby Armstrong.
Early reviews of the deal have favorable for the Leafs, as Bernier is widely accepted to be a quality #1 goaltender in waiting, but one possible effect of the trade may be the birth of a goaltending controversy between Bernier and James Reimer.
Reimer spoke to the Toronto Sun’s Mike Zeisberger on Sunday and expressed surprise that the club had dealt for a goaltender selected 88 picks ahead of him in the 2006 NHL Draft.
“I was a little surprised when I heard about the deal,” Reimer said. “There had been talk about bringing in a veteran. But to bring in someone of a similar age, well, obviously they have their reasons.”
There may be talk from Leafs management and the coaching staff in the coming weeks that there will be a competition for the number one job in training camp or throughout next season, but with Bernier likely to sign a new deal earning significantly more than Reimer’s $1.8 Million salary, there is little doubt that the ex-King will be between the pipes on opening night and given every chance to be the man in Toronto.
The question is whether the Leafs goaltending situation will now remain status quo or whether GM Dave Nonis will put Reimer in play for a possible trade to upgrade other positions on his club, either during the off-season or at the trade deadline.
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Notes And Tidbits
RDS’s Renaud Lavoie reported that the Leafs and agent Pat Brisson will begin discussing a new contract for Jonathan Bernier this week.
To further on Darren Dreger’s comments that Toronto captain Dion Phaneuf could be on the trade market, TSN’s Bob McKenzie indicated that he is hearing the same rumors.
Sports Illustrated and the Denver Post’s Adrian Dater connected the Phaneuf rumors to the Colorado Avalanche and speculated that a trade for Paul Stastny would make sense. The players have almost indentical cap hits (Phaneuf $6.5 million, Stastny $6.6 million), both will be unrestricted free agents at the end of the 2013-14 season, the Avs have a glut up the middle with Stastny, Matt Duchene, Ryan O’Reilly and potentially Nathan McKinnon and are in desperate need of bolstering their blueline.
This is the time of year when there will be news popping up throughout the day, so keep checking back for updates.
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