Recalled/Assigned: Hutchinson Back Up, Kaskisuo Sent Down

[LeafsOHLRangers98]

We need to find a team that has a suitable backup to move.
And a team that needs something we can provide.

Minnesota Wild.
Alex Stalock. 15 games on struggling Minnesota team, 7 - 3 - 2.
2.67 GA and .912 SV% 32 years old.
Signed a 3 year contract worth 2.355 million. .785 year.
The Wild need forward talent.

I doubt we'd be in on Stalock...
Wild goalie Stalock reflects on demoralizing stint with Maple Leafs - Sportsnet.ca

 

[Clark4Ever]

He can't come out and say "Hutch is garbage, he's the best option we have in-house, and we only get one shot to get the trade right unless the back-up is making less than the amount you can bury in the AHL."

I understand that, but I disagree with his premise for responding to reporters. It's a pressing concern because of Hutchinson's play thus far, not because of the market we're in.

 

[Trapper]

I doubt we'd be in on Stalock...
Wild goalie Stalock reflects on demoralizing stint with Maple Leafs - Sportsnet.ca

Maybe. New coach, new mindset maybe.
We have to address this soon. Dubas should be on the hook large if backup goaltending is the reason you miss the playoffs. Like extremely large.

 

[Martin Skoula]

I understand that, but I disagree with his premise for responding to reporters. It's a pressing concern because of Hutchinson's play thus far, not because of the market we're in.

My position is that the only thing worse than Hutch in net is a nervous Hutch. Shield him as much as you can while you work the phones, hopefully he takes a few games to OT at least in the meantime.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Maybe. New coach, new mindset maybe.
We have to address this soon. Dubas should be on the hook large if backup goaltending is the reason you miss the playoffs. Like extremely large.

I am a big Dubie supporter but this backup love in for Hutch because he is a great family man guy gud pro thing has got to stop. Bottom line he looks fine in net with his form but he flat out is not athletic/skilled enough to play NHL goalie. Great form only takes you so far.

 

[LeafsOHLRangers98]

Maybe. New coach, new mindset maybe.
We have to address this soon. Dubas should be on the hook large if backup goaltending is the reason you miss the playoffs. Like extremely large.

Keefe was the coach of the Marlies team that didn't want him. Dubas was the GM of the team at the time.

I mean he wouldn't have a choice if we traded for him but I'd rather not acquire a guy that hates us.

 

[Trapper]

I am a big Dubie supporter but this backup love in for Hutch because he is a great family man guy gud pro thing has got to stop. Bottom line he looks fine in net with his form but he flat out is not athletic/skilled enough to play NHL goalie. Great form only takes you so far.

I’m staying neutral on the Dubas is great, Dubas is terrible. Whatever he has done, salary structure, build, style, remains to be seen. I’m just waiting for playoff success under his reign. Hence the neutral.
But I can’t see how anyone can defend him if something as stupid as backup goaltending unaddressed sinks the team. At all.
You get 38-40 wins from Andersen and miss? Or you’ve played him 70+ games and he’s done in round 1.

 

[Trapper]

Keefe was the coach of the Marlies team that didn't want him. Dubas was the GM of the team at the time.

I mean he wouldn't have a choice if we traded for him but I'd rather not acquire a guy that hates us.

Fair enough. But the desperate need still remains. It’s not a wait until player x gets back into form situation.

 

[LeafsOHLRangers98]

Fair enough. But the desperate need still remains. It’s not a wait until player x gets back into form situation.

Agreed, even if we find a guy that can win one game like Dreidger did the other day. One win from a backup. That's all I ask right now.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

My position is that the only thing worse than Hutch in net is a nervous Hutch. Shield him as much as you can while you work the phones, hopefully he takes a few games to OT at least in the meantime.

Hutch is not a nervous guy. He has and always will have very good form. His technique is not his issue. He flat out does not have NHL skill and athletics. So when people watch him they see the good form and think oh ok he will be fine. and then over time he continually is getting beat because he can't move his glove or stick fast enough even though he is in good position.

 

[Teeder Keon]

Hutch is not a nervous guy. He has and always will have very good form. His technique is not his issue. He flat out does not have NHL skill and athletics. So when people watch him they see the good form and think oh ok he will be fine. and then over time he continually is getting beat because he can't move his glove or stick fast enough even though he is in good position.

Oh and also he has a glaring 5 hole and slow on his movements , and goes down to quickly and can’t handle the puck to well and can’t make saves and has a poor blocker and makes himself look small and over plays the puck and doesn’t track the puck well and gets beat on the short side and gets beat on the long side and gets beat down low and pucks go over his shoulder and doesn’t have confidence and the players don’t have confidence in him and he’s a AHLer and is a career poor back up and isn’t a strong skater whew have I missed anything ?
However , he does have good form !

 

[DarkKnight]

Our cap predicament is proving to be very costly.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Oh and also he has a glaring 5 hole and slow on his movements , and goes down to quickly and can’t handle the puck to well and can’t make saves and has a poor blocker and makes himself look small and over plays the puck and doesn’t track the puck well and gets beat on the short side and gets beat on the long side and gets beat down low and pucks go over his shoulder and doesn’t have confidence and the players don’t have confidence in him and he’s a AHLer and is a career poor back up and isn’t a strong skater whew have I missed anything ?
However , he does have good form !

Form from a positioning and technique standpoint. Just ask his goalie coaches like Grecs. They rave about his positioning technique to all the kids coming up. But you are quite right the movement and reflexes suck so even if you are in the right position with the right technique style does not mean you are making a save.

 

[Egghead1999]

Oh and also he has a glaring 5 hole and slow on his movements , and goes down to quickly and can’t handle the puck to well and can’t make saves and has a poor blocker and makes himself look small and over plays the puck and doesn’t track the puck well and gets beat on the short side and gets beat on the long side and gets beat down low and pucks go over his shoulder and doesn’t have confidence and the players don’t have confidence in him and he’s a AHLer and is a career poor back up and isn’t a strong skater whew have I missed anything ?
However , he does have good form !

He was fine at first. Then, he could not stop a beach ball late in the games. May be he forgot all the techniques after the first period. Btm line is that he is not a NHL goalie.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

He was fine at first. Then, he could not stop a beach ball late in the games. May be he forgot all the techniques after the first period. Btm line is that he is not a NHL goalie.

His technique is still very good. He is in the right spots most of the time. But he can't move his stick or raise his arms fast enough. You can have great positioning and technique and suck at stopping the puck ie Hutch.

 

[Resistance]

Going to miss the playoffs by 1-3 points and it’s all because this has been Dubas’ lowest priority for 2 years.

Can’t believe we are still going with Hutchinshelled and Kaskilose-o

 

[SeaOfBlue]

His technique is still very good. He is in the right spots most of the time. But he can't move his stick or raise his arms fast enough. You can have great positioning and technique and suck at stopping the puck ie Hutch.

IDK his positioning looks questionable to me. There were some times when a puck should have just hit him and easily should have been smothered, but it led to either a goal directly or a huge rebound for another big scoring chance. That's more than being slow.

 

[DarkKnight]

We are gambling this guy can win a game, but the bigger concern is if Freddie goes down...we literally have nothing in the system that could fill in at all. We don’t have an NHL backup. I’m hard pressed to think of another team more screwed if we lose the starter, especially with our cap constraints.

 

[GobigorGohome]

Go and get a Big Goalie.
I mean big.
At least 6'-5 and 6 ' wide.
Size has a quality of its own to cover any short comings.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

There is no bank....that's the major issue. Once MM returns, we will need to cut 2 press box spots just to be compliant.

So we waive Hutch and his 700k and what does that leave us in the bank to acquire a competent back up? $1M more or less?

What or who do you get for that? And even if another team has this coveted asset, why do they let it go to a desperate KD for anything less than an overpay?

Fixing this problem properly is going to cost something of value unless they get extremely lucky.

Assuming that Marincin is the extra guy on the roster, the Leafs would have just under 900k in cap space for a backup. If they keep Timashov instead, they can go up to 900k.

That should be enough to find a backup.

 

[deletethis]

Keeping Sparks over Curtis was the right move... it just didn't work out.

I'm sorry, I find this tiresome. The empirical evidence in hindsight proves it wasn't the right move. Understanding what the GM was attempting to accomplish is very different than it being a wise decision.

Not in response to the above, regarding the statement I keep reading that "goalies are voodoo": The biggest mistake half-smart people make is assuming something's unknowable because they don't understand it.

 

[deletethis]

We are gambling this guy can win a game, but the bigger concern is if Freddie goes down...we literally have nothing in the system that could fill in at all. We don’t have an NHL backup. I’m hard pressed to think of another team more screwed if we lose the starter, especially with our cap constraints.

An injury to Andersen is the bigger concern. I bet they'd just make Woll the starter. But if Dubas doesn't get at the very least 7 wins out of his backup before the end of this season even with a healthy Andersen, we could miss the playoffs entirely.

 

[egd27]

Assuming that Marincin is the extra guy on the roster, the Leafs would have just under 900k in cap space for a backup. If they keep Timashov instead, they can go up to 900k.

That should be enough to find a backup.

Well here's your 900k options currently active in a backup or call up role.

PLAYER	TEAM	AGE	GP	W	L	SO	GAA	Sv%	CAP HIT
11. Elvis Merzlikins	Columbus Blue JacketsCBJ	25	7	0	3	0	3.34	0.895	$874,125
13. Chris Driedger	Florida PanthersFLA	25	1	1	0	1	0	1	$850,000
12. Malcolm Subban	Vegas Golden KnightsVGK	25	9	3	4	0	2.84	0.908	$850,000
14. Adam Werner	Colorado AvalancheCOL	22	2	1	1	0	3.41	0.914	$842,500
15. Alexandar Georgiev	New York RangersNYR	23	11	6	4	1	3.08	0.912	$792,500
17. Kaapo Kähkönen	Minnesota WildMIN	22	1	1	0	0	2	0.941	$767,500
18. Calvin Pickard	Detroit Red WingsDET	27	1	0	1	0	6	0.829	$750,000
19. Garret Sparks	Vegas Golden KnightsVGK	26	1	0	0	0	4.44	0.857	$750,000
21. Samuel Montembeault	Florida PanthersFLA	22	7	3	2	0	3.31	0.889	$708,750
22. Marcus Högberg	Ottawa SenatorsOTT	24	1	0	1	0	2.03	0.923	$700,000
29. Antoine Bibeau	Colorado AvalancheCOL	25	2	1	0	0	3.26	0.881	$675,000
26. Jack Campbell	Los Angeles KingsLAK	27	10	4	5	0	2.88	0.894	$675,000
27. Tristan Jarry	Pittsburgh PenguinsPIT	24	9	5	4	0	2.27	0.929	$675,000
25. Oscar Dansk	Vegas Golden KnightsVGK	25	1	0	1	0	6	0.838	$675,000

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Well here's your 900k options currently active in a backup or call up role.

PLAYER	TEAM	AGE	GP	W	L	SO	GAA	Sv%	CAP HIT
11. Elvis Merzlikins	Columbus Blue JacketsCBJ	25	7	0	3	0	3.34	0.895	$874,125
13. Chris Driedger	Florida PanthersFLA	25	1	1	0	1	0	1	$850,000
12. Malcolm Subban	Vegas Golden KnightsVGK	25	9	3	4	0	2.84	0.908	$850,000
14. Adam Werner	Colorado AvalancheCOL	22	2	1	1	0	3.41	0.914	$842,500
15. Alexandar Georgiev	New York RangersNYR	23	11	6	4	1	3.08	0.912	$792,500
17. Kaapo Kähkönen	Minnesota WildMIN	22	1	1	0	0	2	0.941	$767,500
18. Calvin Pickard	Detroit Red WingsDET	27	1	0	1	0	6	0.829	$750,000
19. Garret Sparks	Vegas Golden KnightsVGK	26	1	0	0	0	4.44	0.857	$750,000
21. Samuel Montembeault	Florida PanthersFLA	22	7	3	2	0	3.31	0.889	$708,750
22. Marcus Högberg	Ottawa SenatorsOTT	24	1	0	1	0	2.03	0.923	$700,000
29. Antoine Bibeau	Colorado AvalancheCOL	25	2	1	0	0	3.26	0.881	$675,000
26. Jack Campbell	Los Angeles KingsLAK	27	10	4	5	0	2.88	0.894	$675,000
27. Tristan Jarry	Pittsburgh PenguinsPIT	24	9	5	4	0	2.27	0.929	$675,000
25. Oscar Dansk	Vegas Golden KnightsVGK	25	1	0	1	0	6	0.838	$675,000

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Of course retention is also a possibility on guys up to 1.8 mill as well. On that list, I would say Jarry and Georgiev are the only ones who are clearly good. Jack Campbell can be a decent option as well, but the Leafs shouldn't be paying much for him.

The rest I would just say give Kaskisuo a shot.

 

[Once]

Ideally we flip one of these fringe guys with a late round pick in 2021 for a guy of Campbell's calibre. Pretty sure Dubas paid a large premium for him in the Soo, IIRC, maybe doesn't want to revisit that.