Confirmed with Link: Maple Leafs Re-Sign Kasimir Kaskisuo to two year, two way contract

[Gary Nylund]

Respectfully disagree with you and Noodles, Daisy. I'm not arguing that wins are not more important, I believe that regardless of starter or backup, the chances of a goalie getting the W increase as the Save % improves.

I'm in this camp too, to me it seems super obvious and I'm not following this "logic" at all that SV% doesn't matter and only wins count (or at least I don't see how this would be any more or any less true for backups than for starters). Backups and starters are different sure but in the end they're all goalies who's job is to keep the puck out of the net and IMHO any differences between them pale in comparison to this massive similarity.

 

[drewjenks]

goalies generally don't have that much trade value in the show (like established ones, sure a 1st rounder or something), so for sparks, unless someone really identified him as a NHL superstar you're not going to get much back.

So why do people waste draft picks on 18 year old goalies?

Sparks has proven a lot more than anyone playing junior.

 

[Buds17]

So why do people waste draft picks on 18 year old goalies?

Sparks has proven a lot more than anyone playing junior.

Draft picks are obviously important, but they are "free" ways of hopefully adding to a team.

If the Leafs don't view Sparks as the backup going into the season - and a trade can't be worked out - they have to place him on waivers. His (trade) value to a team will depend on where they rank on the waiver priority list and how much they'd be willing to chance him falling to them.

 

[DANTHEMAN1967]

By offering Kaskisuo guaranteed salary and signing him to two years they have made him less appealing as a waiver pick up.

It will be interesting to see what Pickard gets as an RFA with arbitration rights, he could be lost to the waiver wire.

McBackup will be gone in my opinion, hopefully they will get a decent draft pick (5th or better) for him which they should or as part of a larger deal.
He had great numbers last year and in a league where an extra win can be the difference of making the playoffs or not some team should see enough value in him to trade for him.

Sparks has been the starter on the team that Dubas was the GM for and brought them to the Calder Cup finals (we'll know in a week or so whether he backstopped them to a win).
I am sure that Dubas will have Sparks backing up Anderson to start the year as a way of rewarding his stellar play and as a way of demonstrating to the other Marlies that their promotions will come with their good play as well.

 

[ULF_55]

$100k to play hockey is pretty good.

Be interested to know how much on top of that they get for expenses.