Confirmed with Link: Leafs acquire Pickard

[Brolaf]

I like the trade. Using an area of organizational strength (depth at the wing) to bolster an area of weakness (goaltending depth).

 

[Alerion]

You confuse me.

As awesome as that moment was, it doesn't change the fact that he's an old goalie with below average career numbers. Pickard is younger, has more upside, and has performed well professionally and internationally recently. There's no sense getting attached to McElhinney just because he made 1 highlight save en route to posting a 6-7-0 record with us.

 

[PuckMagi]

Very happy about this. I wasn't all that comfortable with McBackup given how he performed in pre-season. Good to have another option if McBackup doesn't do well.

 

[Mess]

Leafs have interest in Pickard, shouldn't come as much of a surprise. IMO

I feel a lot better now with him on board that having to hope McBackup could carry the load for any length of time.

 

[bobermay]

Can you really call Lindberg a good prospect though? Yes, if fairness he was buried behind a level of depth that he wouldn’t see anywhere else but at the same time he’s buried because the other people are better then him and if you’re buried behind a Ahl roster I’m not sure you can be called a good prospect

Again, its a minor trade, so I'm not losing sleep... just skeptical is all.

I'm a fan of Lindberg... I was impressed during his NHL stint a couple years ago... I think he'll be an NHLer...

 

[ShaneFalco]

Can't say I know much about him but from what I've read he had a lot of promise and a few down years IIRC. They needed some depth for sure as I don't think Sparks is NHL calibre

 

[Pholus]

Then I ask... is an AHL goaltender really worth a good prospect and 6th when we already have a solid and potentially better goaltender in Sparks?

lindberg isn't a good prospect.

Yeah, a good prospect doesn't struggle to get into an AHL line-up in his 2nd pro season. We have at least 5 winger prospects on the Marlies who are better than Lindberg.

Also, Pickard is a much better goaltender than Sparks.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

I'm glad we got him. We really needed another goalie

 

[Advanced stats]

I guess a part of me also wonders why didn't we just pick up Pickard for free, and put McE on waivers...?

That, I can't answer...

 

[Trapper]

Can you really call Lindberg a good prospect though? Yes, if fairness he was buried behind a level of depth that he wouldn’t see anywhere else but at the same time he’s buried because the other people are better then him and if you’re buried behind a Ahl roster I’m not sure you can be called a good prospect

During preason I don't remember anyone really talking about Lindberg. We talked about Rychel,Kappy,Leivo,Johnsson,Grundstrom, all players who are probably ahead of the curve to make the team instead. A team with only so many spots. Then you add in Timo, Bracco, Brooks, Korshkov, etc. That should say enough.
We did talk a lot about the organization goalie depth though.

 

[Buds17]

Can't hurt to have the goaltending depth - and it's possible he could become more than that at some point - and wing was a position of quantity for us.

 

[ACC1224]

That, I can't answer...

They'd rather Pickard play for the Marlies, than watch Andersen play for the Leafs.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Lindberg and a 6th is not a ton of value, but I do wonder why we gave up those pieces when it's always nice to have picks and the Marlies were already lacking in bigger forwards. We still have a log jam at forward in the NHL, a log jam on defense in the AHL, and now a log jam at goalie at either the NHL or AHL level. Plus we still have an abundance of good forwards sitting on the sidelines most nights in the AHL despite this allowing Moore back into the lineup full time, so I would guess something else is up. Possibly to recoup some mid-late round picks or to get some prospects who are not in the pros yet from teams lacking good depth.

Vegas does not exactly have a ton of negotiating power to warrant getting anything great for him, so we could have given them some decent guys causing log jams instead (possibly worth more than Lindberg and the 6th)

 

[FlareKnight]

Solid move. Now create a bit more depth in the goaltending aspect. Some extra insurance behind McBackup.

 

[Nithoniniel]

As awesome as that moment was, it doesn't change the fact that he's an old goalie with below average career numbers. Pickard is younger, has more upside, and has performed well professionally and internationally recently. There's no sense getting attached to McElhinney just because he made 1 highlight save en route to posting a 6-7-0 record with us.

His numbers are only bad because he's mostly been on crappy teams that allow a lot of quality shots. McElhinney actually outperformed NHL average sv% for the shots he's faced, which isn't something most career backups do.

 

[zeke]

Also, Pickard is a much better goaltender than Sparks.

eh, I hope so. But sparks is younger, bigger, and has been a far better ahl goalie than pickard was.

 

[Budsfan]

Looks like Lou and company are strengthening areas where we can just bring up a player and immediately plug a hole should a player get injured and I don't think he's done yet.

 

[Advanced stats]

is connor brown zip zero zilthc? 6th round pick. I dont have a problem with the trade i dont know enough about pickard to say if its an overpay but a 6th isnt nothing. Lindberg being a forward part of this orginization is pretty much nothing

A 6th round pick has less than a 10% chance of playing more than 100 games in the NHL and less than a 2% chance of being a top 6 forward.
We got incredibly lucky with Connor brown.
A 6th round pick is eussentially nothing. Especially considering it was the center piece to bring in a young backup goalie, with a career .914 save percentage on a terrible Colorado team.

I love this management.

http://www.tsn.ca/statistically-speaking-nhl-draft-pick-value-1.786131

 

[Budsfan]

 

[firstemperor]

I'm not a fan of Pickard's playstyle sometimes but I prefer him to McBackup. Maybe not right now but moving forward. He has at least some upside at his age and how he's tracked.

To be frank, I would be equally uncomfortable of Pickard in net tomorrow versus McBackup. I think both goalies make routine saves look difficult on any given night.

I wanted to take a chance on Pickard if we could fit his contract the day he hit waivers but didn't think enough of it either way.

 

[Drytoast]

As awesome as that moment was, it doesn't change the fact that he's an old goalie with below average career numbers. Pickard is younger, has more upside, and has performed well professionally and internationally recently. There's no sense getting attached to McElhinney just because he made 1 highlight save en route to posting a 6-7-0 record with us.

I dunno There's something to having an experienced goalie who's played big for us when we needed who knows the role of a back up.

I don't stress about McBackup.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

A 6th round pick has less than a 10% chance of playing more than 100 games in the NHL and less than a 2% chance of being a top 6 forward.
We got incredibly lucky with Connor brown.
A 6th round pick is eussentially nothing. Especially considering it was the center piece to bring in a young backup goalie, with a career .914 save percentage on a terrible Colorado team.

I love this management.

http://www.tsn.ca/statistically-speaking-nhl-draft-pick-value-1.786131

Value wise it's not a big deal, but it's also about spreading out the ages of the assets. Huge bottleneck right now for the Leafs and Marlies where guys are not able to play at the right level or at all, it would have been nice to have a prospect/player worth a 6th or even a bit more (i.e. Marincin) go instead and clear up the bottleneck a bit and then have the 6th rounder come in later on when hopefully things clear up a bit.

You know spreading out the organizational depth. I am sure some deals will still go down to clear some bottlenecks in the organization though. There are teams needing good forwards, defense and goalie prospects/players all of the time, especially when injuries hit.

 

[AppsSyl]

Then I ask... is an AHL goaltender really worth a good prospect and 6th when we already have a solid and potentially better goaltender in Sparks?

Pickard has proven that he can be an NHL goaltender and play a number of games. If Andersen goes down with injury it is likely Pickard that gets called up and takes the starters role. By trading for him rather than waivers he can play with the Marlies as their starter and stay sharp with a constant workload. If they pick him up off waivers they have to waive McBackup and lose the depth. It is actually a pretty shrewd move adding depth to a position we needed it in for very little cost, and as far as Sparks goes, he is not who we want starting games on the Leafs.

 

[Jarqui]

I guess a part of me also wonders why didn't we just pick up Pickard for free, and put McE on waivers...?

It allowed us to shed a contract to maintain room under the 50 contract limit

 

[PuckMagi]

Not that I know much about Pickard... but this seems like a steal of a deal for us.

25 year old goalie who has played 86 total NHL games over 3 seasons... and actually has descent numbers playing in front of a horrible team.

Not gonna get a better deal than that.

He's instantly our 3rd best goalie and could challenge for the backup position this year.

And there's always a chance he turns out to be legit good. This is way better value than what we gave up.