As we just saw with Auston Matthews, an injury can happen at any time and it’s important to have depth throughout the organization.
The Maple Leafs had little to no depth in just about every part of their organization before Shanahan, Babcock and Lamoriello took on the job of rebuilding the Leafs into a contending team. Now, just a few years later the blue and white team from Toronto is no longer a walk in the park. Teams are beginning to fear the Leafs and their offense which can burst out at any time.
Not only do the Leafs score a lot of goals, they score a lot of first period goals and a lot of them are even strength. This is a good sign as the team doesn’t need to rely on the power play as much as some other teams in the league. With the dynamic offense and speed the Leafs possess they have been flawless in overtime and a shootout win this season. This is an improvement already over last season where the Leafs choked up a handful of leads in the third period and ended up losing the game in overtime or a shootout. That could have been the difference maker last season not having to play Washington round one.
Obviously there is some room for improvement on the back end, we’ve known that since the summer and the situation hasn’t exactly been rectified. Perhaps with the price tag that a top four defender has the management has decided to be patient and see if one of their prospects flourishes in the AHL or a trade opportunity arises and presents itself in a way the Leafs feel it’s worthy to jump on.
One spot the Leafs don’t have to worry about for some time is goaltending.
Andersen is locked in for another four seasons and both Garret Sparks and Calvin Pickard have been playing well for the Marlies.
Pickard, who the Leafs scooped up off waivers when the Golden Knights dropped him has had five starts with the Marlies and is 3-2 with 2.45 goals against and a .918 save percent. Not bad for the 25 year old and these stats seem to line up with his past AHL stats. Pickard was on the Avalanche for three seasons and they were certainly not a very good team last season and Pickard had to fill in as Varlamov was sidelined with an injury. Pickard went 15-31-2 and sported a .904 save percent, he wasn’t great but the team was rock bottom. With some National Hockey League experience under his belt and being seasoned in the American Hockey League for many seasons Pickard is a good option for a fill in as the Marlies starter or backup for the Leafs. You never know when and if injury is to happen or if McElhinney struggles and the Leafs decide to go a different route.
An even better option than Pickard could be Garret Sparks.
Personally I think that the Leafs are going to give Sparks a shot at some point this season to show how much he’s improved since his 2015-16 stint with the big club. The Leafs if you can remember were a gong show that season and Sparks got into 17 games in the NHL. He had zero help basically and went 6-9-1 and had a.893 save percent. Since then he’s been rock solid.
Last year Sparks went 21-9-0 for the Marlies with a juicy .922 save percent and 2.16 GAA. Not bad right? Well so far this year the Marlies have been dominant with Sparky in the net winning 7 out of 9 starts and posting a spectactular 1.57 GAA and .944 save percent. Those are some high quality stats and if Garret can keep that up he’s going to be pushing the Leafs brass to give him another taste with the big club.
McEhinney better perform well when he gets in or you can bet one of Sparks or Pickard are going to get a chance to stop some pucks.
New Jersey tomorrow…
The Leafs should be looking for a big redemption victory after the Devils handled them with a 6-3 win in their last meeting.
Thanks for reading, happy hump day.