In a year of transition with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the main goal of head coach Mike Babcock is going to be evaluating holdover players from the Wilson/Carlyle/Horachek era to determine whether they can be positive contributors through the club’s rebuild.
There is no way to tell if Babcock has already made up his mind on some players or needs further evidence to make a final decision, but through 13 games one area that is obviously in need of an upgrade is in goal.
The Maple Leafs again put forth a good effort in 2-1 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings at Air Canada Center on Friday, but were again placed squarely behind the eight ball by a James Reimer goaltending miscue.
The former Leafs starting goalie allowed a weak short side goal to Dustin Byfuglien early in the first period of a 4-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday and once again erred on Friday, flubbing a long dump in from veteran Henrik Zetterberg that put Detroit into a lead that they held until the final 62 seconds of regulation.
Byfuglien’s opening goal in a Jets victory over Toronto on Wednesday.
Zetterberg’s 300th career goal in the first period of the Red Wings 2-1 OT win at Air Canada Center on Friday.
The determining factor when it comes to goaltending is consistency and in the recent past, Reimer, Bernier and Jonas Gustavsson have had moments of brilliance obscured by puzzling errors.
Reimer stops Nyquist in OT pic.twitter.com/3qjSKEaa9q
— Stephanie (@myregularface) November 7, 2015The excuse for Toronto’s netminding corps has been that their errors were a product of fatigue because of the Leafs porous defense allowing too many shots on goal and scoring opportunities, but those areas have improved through 13 games under Babcock and yet Reimer and Bernier continue to allowed back-breaking goals.
Montreal captain Max Pacioretty’s season-opening softie on Toronto goalie Jonathan Bernier.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported in this week’s 30 Thoughts column that the Leafs have started making inquiries throughout the league about potential goaltending upgrades.
Those inquiries are not surprising with Reimer’s status as an unrestricted free agent next summer, Bernier in a similar position in the summer of 2017 and the uncertainty of whether 21-year-olds Antoine Bibeau or Garret Sparks are legitimate NHL goaltending prospects.
Toronto management may not want to make that kind of move until after the season, when improvement between the pipes would not affect the prospects of drafting at the top of the 2016 NHL Draft.
The Leafs could go the way of scouring Europe or the NCAA for unsigned college free agents, as Ottawa did with Boston U’s Matt O’Connor last season or trade with NHL teams for goaltending prospects who have top tier netminders or a logjam, such as Zane McIntyre/Malcolm Subban(Boston), Jordan Binnington(St. Louis), Connor Hellebuyck/Eric Comrie(Winnipeg), Calvin Pickard(Colorado), John Gibson(Anaheim), Zach Fucale(Montreal) or Matt Murray(Pittsburgh).
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Forward Rich Clune cleared waivers on Saturday and has been assigned to the Toronto Marlies of the AHL, who won their third straight on the road on Friday in Utica.
William Nylander and TJ Brennan each had a goal and assist in a 5-4 shootout victory over the Comets. Casey Bailey and Kasperi Kapanen also scored for Toronto, who improved to 9-3-0 and lead the AHL’s North Division.
The 19-year-old Nylander also scored in the shootout and leads the Marlies with six goals and six assists in 11 games, tied for fifth in AHL scoring.
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It was also a banner night Leafs 2015 top pick Mitch Marner, who had five assists in a 9-2 London Knights victory over Guelph on Friday. Marner assisted on four of London’s six power play goals and four of Arizona draftee Christian Dvorak’s five goals.
2014 draft choice JJ Piccinich also had three assists on the night.
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Toronto begins a three-game road trip in Washington on Saturday, with their first meeting against Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals. James Reimer will make his fourth straight start and on back-to-back nights, instead of rookie Antoine Bibeau getting the nod. Braden Holtby will be between the pipes for Washington.
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