Claimed off Waivers: Leafs claim McElhinney from Blue Jackets

[McMatthews]

BS. Leafs were putting him in situations to fail.

The Maple Leafs did put Enroth in positions to fail but it's a #2 goaltenders job to be ready at any point in a game.

Enroth was a small goalie that tried to be a big goalie. I can't explain how bad he was and I was one of the many that got really excited when he signed here. Really good backup goaltenders find a way to come through at least once in a blue moon. Enroth was never put in a situation to steal games but he was expected to at least keep them in it. The Toronto defensive play has not been that bad this season. Of the 70 goalies that have made appearances this season, Enroth's numbers are bottom 5.

If McElhinney can put up a save percentage around .910 and a GAA around 2.80, he'll be fine.

 

[New Leaf]

RIP McElhinney's NHL career. Actually surprised to see how many career backups have been employed by TO the past few years. Enroth, Scrivens, Clemmensen, Monster.

It really doesn't look too good if McElhinney wants to extend his stay in the NHL much longer, though Monster lasted a couple years after leaving TO, for whatever reason.

Andersen: .918
Mrazek: .895

Yeah, Toronto is just chewing goalies up. Not like those Wings.

 

[Adele Dazeem]

He's not a good backup. This only means that Ottawa v. Toronto games are going to be high scoring affairs.

 

[Viqsi]

Awww. Was hoping we'd get to keep him. Hope things go well for him in Toronto. Y'all better treat him well.

 

[Pyrophorus]

I was actually hoping for Korpisalo myself.

Meh.
He's 6'3"

Halak would've perfect if his contract was better, but I'm sure others in line may have felt that way as well.

Serve us well Curtis.

 

[Booba]

There are no situations to fail, just situations Backups get put in, Enroth failed because Enroth sucks

Enroth has a career save percentage of 90.9% while McElhinney who is 5 years older is at 90.5%.

I understand that Enroth has been bad this season but it's a stretch to call McElhinney an upgrade.

 

[Brock Radunske]

Enroth has a career save percentage of 90.9% while McElhinney who is 5 years older is at 90.5%.

I understand that Enroth has been bad this season but it's a stretch to call McElhinney an upgrade.

Babs is a size-queen when it comes goalies. Poor little guy never stood a chance

 

[Hello Johnny]

I was actually hoping for Korpisalo myself.

Do you mean you were hoping to see him called up ahead of Forsberg? Because Forsberg has outplayed him since last year's Calder Cup.

 

[TaketheCannoli]

He's not the guy I'd want but he CAN NOT be worse than Enroth

Well actually having watched them both he is probably worse than Enroth but he is a great teammate.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Dunno but Bibeau has a 1.99 GAA and a .927% save percentage in his 2 games... won't get much better than that out of your backup.

He was not needed to me. But it's also not a big deal.

Really, it was a bad idea to sign Enroth in the first place. It's pretty clear from Babcock's hate of Bernier that he doesn't like small goalies, and Enroth is as small as you can get.

The Leafs should have just stuck with Sparks and Bibeau. Sparks is consistently great in the minors, but got dealt a terrible team in his first NHL stint. At the very least he could have handled all of the back to backs and a few additional games without losing more than someone like McElhinney probably would.

Mind boggling that's for sure, but I'm sure our young goalies will get a better shot next year, if not with some veteran competition on a PTO. That's really what should have happened this year, and at the very least it would have probably saved us a contract by not signing Enroth. IIRC, he wasn't better than Bibeau or Sparks in camp.

 

[Halla]

kinda surprised leafs took on another goalie contract.
look for him to start vs ottawa I guess, because not a chance do they throw him out vs the rangers lol

 

[93gilmour93]

kinda surprised leafs took on another goalie contract.
look for him to start vs ottawa I guess, because not a chance do they throw him out vs the rangers lol

No way Andersen doesn't play against ottawa on Saturday in a division match up with the teams 2pts apart. Curtis will either play in NY or against buffalo on Tuesday

 

[Michel Beauchamp]

He's not the guy I'd want but he CAN NOT be worse than Enroth

Are you still shouting "Bravo Lou, Bravo" as you once did ?

 

[The List Of Jericho]

because "The Monster" was put on waviers the same time as Curtis.
good try though.

As I very well knew, most Oilers fans wanted to pick him up as a replacement but figured he may not make it to them because the Leafs had a higher waiver priority,

 

[Michel Beauchamp]

Besides cutting travel costs... one of the main reasons that management relocated the farm team back to Toronto was less disruption when needing to call up a player!

Bibeau is playing at Ricoh or sitting at ACC for the same pay... and depending on which neighbourhood Bibeau lives in ... it's an extra 3.5 km drive at most!

False.

He's earning about $0.4K per day while on the Marlies, $3.8K per day while on the Leafs.

 

[Warden of the North]

This move is more about getting Bibeau starts with the Marlies then it is getting a backup in Toronto.

 

[Michel Beauchamp]

Babcock didn't trust to start with Bibeau against Montreal after back to back. And Andersen have slowed signs of fatigue, so it's important that they have veteran back-up.

Francophone back-ups are usually deadly against the Canadiens, especially in Montréal.

That last game was in Toronto, so who knows ?

Only the Shadow...

 

[nhlfan9191]

I love Torts' honesty. After CMac last win, a writer asked Torts how hard it is to sit for weeks and then get thrown in there.

"It sucks. He always has to go to the morning skate when we are back at the hotel, we use him as a punching bag. He gets what being a backup is and he's an amazing pro."

starts at about 40 seconds

I don't think it was John's choice to send Mac down. I think C. Mac is exactly the kind of backup that an old school guy like Tortorella loves. I think of it was more the GM felt it was time for a younger guy to get a chance.

 

[CanadiensforLife]

Keep scraping the bottom of the barrel.

 

[Man Bear Pig]

Keep scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Amazing how Habs fans come out in droves after beating the Leafs. Then they play a contender like Washington. Guess that AHL squad wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

 

[Major Happy*]

Keep scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Better then 10toya.

 

[Michel Beauchamp]

Amazing how Habs fans come out in droves after beating the Leafs. Then they play a contender like Washington. Guess that AHL squad wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

Says a lot about the Leafs, doesn't it...

Great example of spitting into the wind.

But more seriously, they have beaten the Caps, in Washington, three weeks ago.

Their record against teams in the playoffs in the East (based on points %) is 7-4-2.

Not great, but not bad.

 

[LighthouseKeepr]

RIP McElhinney's NHL career. Actually surprised to see how many career backups have been employed by TO the past few years. Enroth, Scrivens, Clemmensen, Monster, Reimer, Bernier

It really doesn't look too good if McElhinney wants to extend his stay in the NHL much longer, though Monster lasted a couple years after leaving TO, for whatever reason.

Fixed it for you!

 

[LighthouseKeepr]

False.

He's earning about $0.4K per day while on the Marlies, $3.8K per day while on the Leafs.

I wasn't sure of his contractual status, but I was trying to make the point that being recalled and sent back down every couple days is not a big deal as Ricoh and the ACC are practically next to each other.

So if what you say about his pay is true (I believe you) then that makes it even more likely that he does not mind driving the extra 3.5km when called up to warm the bench for the big club on a Thursday and then back to starting at Ricoh on a Friday.... it's like being called into work for overtime and then you just sit there and get paid to do nothing!

 

[ponder]

I wonder if this is us giving up on Ramo? When we signed Ramo to the PTO with the Marlies, and brought up Bibeau, I figured Bibeau was just filling in while Ramo got healthy. But that was over a month ago, and I haven't been following the Marlies too closely, is Ramo even on the team anymore?

McElhinney is nothing special, but hopefully he's good enough to play on back-to-backs, Andersen needs the rest - we've definitely been overplaying him.