Pre-Game Talk: Call up Bracco

[Kamiccolo]

 

[LeafingTheWay]

Petan is the first choice. It has to be him.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

One thing is for sure. Dubas inherited one of the strongest goaltending depths in the league and turned it into one of the weakest over a few weeks. Laughable he couldn't get anything for McBackup.

You could argue that he should have picked McElhinney over Sparks, which has been beaten to death so let's not talk about that, but he'd be in the exact same spot this year. McElhinney would have priced himself out and Sparks and Pickard get claimed. We still would have no goaltending depth, and it's not like it would be different for any other GM out there.

Also, why would anyone give him anything when they knew two of the three goalies would hit waivers? Dubas had absolutely no leverage. Most teams had their goalie situations set at that point and the ones who did not had the opportunity to claim them for nothing. Dubas' only hope was for them to clear and then trade one of them at that point, but obviously that did not happen.

 

[Nithoniniel]

One thing is for sure. Dubas inherited one of the strongest goaltending depths in the league and turned it into one of the weakest over a few weeks. Laughable he couldn't get anything for McBackup.

Laughable? Backups don't get you much of anything. Especially not older backups, or those with a large sample size of below average play. All of this true for McElhinney. At that point, he was a 34 year old who had always been a weak backup but whose last 18 games were great. Do you really think teams would throw themselves over that?

If we actually had one of the strongest goaltending depths in the league, we could have lost a backup without turning into the weakest. Fairly obvious.

 

[ACC1224]

They called up Bracco??
Would think Petan would be the put back in.

 

[Suntouchable13]

They called up Bracco??
Would think Petan would be the put back in.

If Hyman is activated before the game tonight then they won't be calling anyone up. No cap.

 

[paulhiggins]

Yeah, I was watching McBackup yesterday vs Buffalo. He gave Tampa all chances to win. And he is only 1.3M. I really want a trustworthy backup. If they can fit it in the cap - why the hell can't we.

You can have the best capologists money can buy but the GM has to have a thinking cap of his own.

 

[Rogue Leader]

You can have the best capologists money can buy but the GM has to have a thinking cap of his own.

Haha, I like what you did there. I sometimes think his cap covers his vision.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

One thing is for sure. Dubas inherited one of the strongest goaltending depths in the league and turned it into one of the weakest over a few weeks. Laughable he couldn't get anything for McBackup.

That should tell some fans that they overrate backup goaltending to an absurd degree

 

[Rogue Leader]

Why is this thread so dead??? What is everyone doing on a Sunday?

 

[PuckMagi]

Why is this thread so dead??? What is everyone doing on a Sunday?

i'm cleaning my house. it's really exciting stuff.

 

[ShaneFalco]

Bracco was disappointing for me

 

[ToneDog]

Another small, soft, skilled and defensively challenged winger. Just what this team needs.

 

[Canada4Gold]

If there was ever a time to do it it'd be now. Plug him directly into Marner's spot, leaving everything else intact. He gets a chance to do something, anything to prove he might deserve another chance down the line rather than be traded, and we have cap room to do it now with Hyman still out. Once he comes back it'll take another LTIR because Bracco's cap hit is too high to be eligible for the no cap emergency recall situation.

But it'll be Petan.

 

[Rogue Leader]

i'm cleaning my house. it's really exciting stuff.

Don't worry you will soon be rewarded, dude! I truly hope we win.

 

[Kamiccolo]

Laughable? Backups don't get you much of anything. Especially not older backups, or those with a large sample size of below average play. All of this true for McElhinney. At that point, he was a 34 year old who had always been a weak backup but whose last 18 games were great. Do you really think teams would throw themselves over that?

If we actually had one of the strongest goaltending depths in the league, we could have lost a backup without turning into the weakest. Fairly obvious.

We also lost Pickard as well

 

[Kamiccolo]

That should tell some fans that they overrate backup goaltending to an absurd degree

How? We did't get home ice because of the backup last year and if they don't again or miss the playoffs, check our record when the backup starts. It's not all on them, but it's clear the team needs a better backup to win as they can't tighten up for worse goalies than Freddy.

It's a fault on management as a whole but especially Dubas for not addressing it 2 years in a row.

 

[HandshakeLineRespect]

That’s going to be a hard no for me dog.

 

[LeafsOHLRangers98]

Leave Bracco on the Marlies, play Spezza.

Johnsson-Matthews-Nylander
Moore-Tavares-Kapanen/Spezza
Mikheyev-Kerfoot-Spezza/Kapanen
Timashov-Gauthier-Shore

Either promote Kapanen who has played well with JT in the past or leave that 3rd line together and just throw Spezza in as a placeholder.

Maybe he continues to play well and builds some value.

 

[The Podium]

How? We did't get home ice because of the backup last year and if they don't again or miss the playoffs, check our record when the backup starts. It's not all on them, but it's clear the team needs a better backup to win as they can't tighten up for worse goalies than Freddy.

It's a fault on management as a whole but especially Dubas for not addressing it 2 years in a row.

It has been proven time and time again that backup goaltending didnt cost us home ice.

The only thing a backup goalie would have, and would still, provide this team in value is much needed rest for Andersen similar to what Halak has done for Rask.

 

[Kamiccolo]

It has been proven time and time again that backup goaltending didnt cost us home ice.

Proven how exactly?

 

[The Podium]

Proven how exactly?

This is a post by me in this thread (The teammate the leafs players missed the most this season.):

The majority of Sparks losses were on the team, not on him. McElhinney would have to have a 0.710 Win% on the season for the Leafs to have had home ice advantage, which was only done by Vasilevskiy this season.

Now not only would he need a 0.710 Win% but he would have to do it with 10 of his 17 starts being a back to back and 11 of those 17 games the Leafs scored 2 goals or fewer.

The only argument that can be made is perhaps Babcock would have more faith in McElhinney and give Andersen a bit of a break down the stretch. But considering he only played 18 and 14 games in the 2 years prior, I doubt that would be the case.

And here is a post from @Nithoniniel that same thread re: McElhinney vs. Sparks

You can't just use team wins like that. They weren't the only two players on the ice. By using GSAA* there's a 9 goal difference between them. On average, that buys you another two wins. Two wins are inconsequential. Pure backups are pretty inconsequential unless your starter is injured long-term.

*GSAA basically looks at what save percentage you should expect by an average goaltender and compares it to the goaltender in question. The difference is then the amount of Goals Saved Against Average (goaltending).

 

[Guided by Veseys]

Sparks was actually quite good in a couple of games last year. McBackup wouldn’t necessarily have won the same games that Sparks was a first star. The costing home ice myth is such a stretch, it blows me away that anybody could fully allow themselves to believe it.
As for Bracco, they need to get him an nhl game and now is as good a time as any. If anything it is going to increase his trade value if he has any nhl experience to speak of.

 

[Kamiccolo]

This is a post by me in this thread (The teammate the leafs players missed the most this season.):



And here is a post from @Nithoniniel that same thread re: McElhinney vs. Sparks

Let me ask you, given we are in a fight to make the playoffs, do you trust Hutch or Sparks to start a random game to rest Andersen? It's more than B2B, this failure to address the position also means Andersen will once again be over worked for the playoffs.

 

[The Podium]

Let me ask you, given we are in a fight to make the playoffs, do you trust Hutch or Sparks to start a random game to rest Andersen? It's more than B2B, this failure to address the position also means Andersen will once again be over worked for the playoffs.

It literally says that in both my posts