The Toronto Maple Leafs can score, what they cannot do is stop a puck. One metric Leafs management is not too happy about is their goaltending save percentage when the play is 5 vs 5. The Leafs sit dead last in the league since the start of December.
What can the Leafs do to solve this problem? They have a few options:
- The Toronto Maple Leafs can let Petr Mrazek play the next few weeks and see if he can provide some stable goaltending by playing on a consistent basis.
- The popular opinion among Maple Leaf fans is to make a Marc-Andre Fleury trade. Fleury does have a no-move clause and would he want to come to Toronto? Can the Leafs afford his contract? They can if Jake Muzzin stays on LTIR for rest of the season. If not, they need another option.
- That option is to look at another goalie, which could be New York Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov.
Toronto has three weeks to figure out the goaltending situation. Right now it is looking like the Tampa Bay Lighting would be their first round playoff opponent. If Jack Campbell and Mrazek continue to let in very weak goals, NHL trade rumors will be picking up on Leaf goalie rumors if the team wants to have a deep playoff run.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are not going anywhere in the playoffs until they find a goalie that can stop a puck.
I like the Varlamov trade option.