Gabriel426
Registered User
- Jun 30, 2015
- 16,950
- 10,598
I am not at all happy with Matthews' playoff performance but he is 20 years old. Andersen is turning 29. He's one of our more experienced players, and the fact is that goalies play 60 minutes, so they will inevitably get a lot of scrutiny. I'm not really buying the argument that Andersen should be babied at this point. He's in the prime of his career and has 41 playoff games under his belt. At a certain point, you have to wonder whether guys are made for the playoffs or not.
I don't think Andersen should be traded, but he has a lot to prove next playoffs. No excuses.
Selling high might seem crazy now, and I'm not saying we should, but all options should be open. We do have to decide what to do with Sparks and Pickard for next season with McElhinney also still under contract, so something has to give this summer with our goaltending situation either way.
I am not saying Andersen should get a pass. The thing is pretty much the whole team were bad and outplayed. There are goals that he should have saved but there are also saves that he had no business of making, but he did. It is like the old saying in soccer, a striker can make 10 mistakes in a game but as long as he scores his 11th chance he is the hero, where a goalie can make 10 spectacular saves but if he makes a mistake on his 11th chance, he is blame for eternity.
Is Andersen the top 5 goalie in the league, not really, maybe in the top 10 but for sure top 15. Thats good enough for the Leafs, the team just need to show up and play with more structure.