Not sure why my Leaf fan brethren are so anxious to throw out Campbell - outplayed Vasi this playoffs, was an all-star goalie for half the year, terrible for a quearter of the year, then decent for the last quarter . . . and he's well loved, the team played very well in front of him, and he's the best option available for what I think we could get him at (3.8 - 5mil after he comes down in price).
I'd try signing him for 4 and a half for 3 yrs. It's not a stretch . . . right?
How did he outplay Vasilevskiy in the playoffs when both had the
exact same save percentage in .897? Campbell had a 3.15 GAA and Vasilevskiy had a 3.04 GAA in 7 playoff games.
The difference was that Vasilevskiy gave up some late third period goals to hurt his numbers more when the game was pretty much out of reach ala game 2 and game 4.
Vasilevskiy was the better overall goaltender because he had 4 wins and only gave up one goal on 31 shots, whereas, Campbell gave up two on a mere 25 shots in game 7.
So no, I don't see the narrative as you do that he outplayed Vasilevskiy. He didn't outplay him as a whole and not in the game that mattered most which was game 7.
Campbell wasn't just bad for 25% of the season, that's just downright wrong.
From December 15th 2021 until probably near the end of April, his stats were some of the worst of any goaltender for nearly an almost 4 month stretch. That's not me being hyperbolic, he literally was .880% to .885% well over 3.25 GAA during that stretch. Leafs went to 31st in team save percentage during his long slump as well as Mrazek being dog shit as well.
Campbell is oft injured and is good for 35-45 games in a 1B role at best. He's not a starting goaltender. His confidence gets shaken way too easily and I just don't think he's the answer, not at the money that his agent will be asking. A one point his agent was asking for 7 million back in December or so when he was on a run.
He's not coming back, he'll make more money on the open market than what the Leafs are willing to part with. It's time to move on from him. They cannot afford him and he's not proven enough to be that guy to make Ullmark type money. He's not that guy, it's not happening... period.
