Confirmed with Link: [TOR/FLA] TOR acquires G Michael Hutchinson for 2020 5th Round Pick

[mikeyz]

I tend to defend Sparks simply because the takes on his skill are so outrageous. Many people here swear he isn’t an NHL caliber goalie and meanwhile he has a shutout, a save percentage over .900 and a solid winning this record. I don’t think anybody was saying he is an nhl starter. People defend Sparks by simply claiming he is a decent backup at a good price and he isn’t any worse than McBackup.
I’m happy with Hutchinson and I agree that he simply seems more calm in the net. I think Sparks still has tons of potential though and the league hasn’t seen the last of him even if he gets demoted to AHL sometime soon. I was happy with Sparks this season and feel he had a lot of unlucky goals scored on him; the one where he saved a tip from the slot and it bounced off Gardiner comes to mind. People here even tried to blame Sparks for that goal, it’s been ridiculous reads left and right here this season with a bunch of phony goaltending experts chiming in about technique.

Because he’s not. At least not yet anyways.

 

[Jozay]

Hutch is easier to watch for sure, but he's not better than Sparks.

 

[Stephen]

I tend to defend Sparks simply because the takes on his skill are so outrageous. Many people here swear he isn’t an NHL caliber goalie and meanwhile he has a shutout, a save percentage over .900 and a solid winning this record. I don’t think anybody was saying he is an nhl starter. People defend Sparks by simply claiming he is a decent backup at a good price and he isn’t any worse than McBackup.
I’m happy with Hutchinson and I agree that he simply seems more calm in the net. I think Sparks still has tons of potential though and the league hasn’t seen the last of him even if he gets demoted to AHL sometime soon. I was happy with Sparks this season and feel he had a lot of unlucky goals scored on him; the one where he saved a tip from the slot and it bounced off Gardiner comes to mind. People here even tried to blame Sparks for that goal, it’s been ridiculous reads left and right here this season with a bunch of phony goaltending experts chiming in about technique.

It's funny that people also hated McBackup's play when he first got here, but that doesn't dispel the notion that Sparks has a lot of bad in his game. Terrible structure, over committing, poor reads, and a total lack of composure, scrambling style, etc. But if he was perfect he wouldn't be a backup.

 

[Leaf4Life]

Oh, almost certainly.

However, for much the same reason I was a large advocate for keeping McBackup, I believe we should be doing what’s best for right now in terms of the backup goalie.

I don’t care who our backup is in two or thee years. Heck, it might be Joseph Woll or Ian Scott no matter who we keep.

So I want our backup to be the best person available to allow Andersen to only have to play around 60% or so of the games down the stretch.

If that’s Sparks, fine.
If that’s Hutch, fine.
If that’s a goalie we bring in, fine.

Just make it a goalie that Babcock trusts and will use.

Umm, I think everyone just wants a backup that can perform and handle the workload. That goes without saying. No one cares about a backups name.. Lol

People aren't hating on Sparks just because he is Sparks or that they have a personal vendetta against him. The concern is that he currently doesn't look or act like a goalie you can trust, despite his decent numbers.

Now if he can somehow maintain those numbers over an entire season or two then great. But by looking at how he CURRENTLY plays, that just doesn't APPEAR to be sustainable over a larger sample size.

 

[GodEmperor]

Hutch is easier to watch for sure, but he's not better than Sparks.

Nope he definitely is, Sparks is absolute garbage in the net, literally the worst fundamentals of a goalie post lockout and I'm not being hyperbolic either. I guess you can argue that maybe 40 year old Belfour or Kolzig were maybe worse, but that's another topic.

Sparks is a 25 year old athlete that moves like a slug, is down on his knees way too much and plays the puck awfully. He is a great example of the delusional attitude towards 6'5 goalies in Hockey, the guy will never be an NHLer.

He has literally been given the softest schedule of any backup and performed BELOW the top teams' backup sv% average.

I'll take Hutch all day everyday, he can literally be the same as Sparks and by not playing like a massive fool in the net, he will give the team more confidence in him. Anyways, his 915 sv% speaks for itself, but knowing the guy personally and having watched him in Barrie, I can tell you he will do whatever it takes to take advantage of this opportunity and he should be able to thrive.

 

[The Man with a Plan]

Because he’s not. At least not yet anyways.

You have to play in the show to learn how to play in the show.

People act like he's been our backup for years. It's 10 starts into his rookie season ffs. He also has a winning record... no matter what anyone wants to believe. I couldn't care less if he has to record a shutout or the guys score a half dozen goals. A win is a win and he somehow keeps getting them. That's all you can ask of a backup let alone a rookie backup.

 

[supermann_98]

Nope he definitely is, Sparks is absolute garbage in the net, literally the worst fundamentals of a goalie post lockout and I'm not being hyperbolic either. I guess you can argue that maybe 40 year old Belfour or Kolzig were maybe worse, but that's another topic.

Sparks is a 25 year old athlete that moves like a slug, is down on his knees way too much and plays the puck awfully. He is a great example of the delusional attitude towards 6'5 goalies in Hockey, the guy will never be an NHLer.

He has literally been given the softest schedule of any backup and performed BELOW the top teams' backup sv% average.

I'll take Hutch all day everyday, he can literally be the same as Sparks and by not playing like a massive fool in the net, he will give the team more confidence in him. Anyways, his 915 sv% speaks for itself, but knowing the guy personally and having watched him in Barrie, I can tell you he will do whatever it takes to take advantage of this opportunity and he should be able to thrive.

Agreed with everything you said. Sparks is not an NHL caliber goalie and once he loses his position to Hutch (a matter of when, not if), I doubt he’s able to secure another NHL backup job.

Hopefully he saves his NHL salary as best he can this year because I have a feeling his time in the league will be very short-lived

 

[Brock Radunske]

Hutch has played fine but expect a bumpy road until Andersen is back between the pipes.
It's crazy to think about how long we had Hutch-esque goalies playing a #1 role here (Riemer/Bernier/Gus/Old Gig/Toskola). And to think, many (myself included) expected to win.

Man, we're spoiled right now.

 

[DarkKnight]

You have to play in the show to learn how to play in the show.

People act like he's been our backup for years. It's 10 starts into his rookie season ffs. He also has a winning record... no matter what anyone wants to believe. I couldn't care less if he has to record a shutout or the guys score a half dozen goals. A win is a win and he somehow keeps getting them. That's all you can ask of a backup let alone a rookie backup.

To be fair, he played 17 NHL games prior, this isn't his first look, nor is it all new to him.

I like what I've seen from Hutch, but I'm not getting behind him like some do with Sparks. I think he's better than Sparks, but that isn't exactly a massive endorsement.

 

[The Man with a Plan]

To be fair, he played 17 NHL games prior, this isn't his first look, nor is it all new to him.

I like what I've seen from Hutch, but I'm not getting behind him like some do with Sparks. I think he's better than Sparks, but that isn't exactly a massive endorsement.

It's a completely different story between being a call up for injuries and winning the job out of camp.

I agree Hutch hasn't been horrible like some say but I'd rather we sent Hutch down to help the Maries and keep Sparks. No need to loose an asset on waivers if we don't have to.

 

[DarkKnight]

It's a completely different story between being a call up for injuries and winning the job out of camp.

I agree Hutch hasn't been horrible like some say but I'd rather we sent Hutch down to help the Maries and keep Sparks. No need to loose an asset on waivers if we don't have to.

You're right, we will send Hutch down. People are saying he's been horrible? Man.

 

[Mr Hockey]

You're right, we will send Hutch down. People are saying he's been horrible? Man.

Unfortunately, the leafs will have to send Hutch down, they can't risk losing Sparks on waivers, it would be the 3rd goalie lost, a team might take him just to mess with the Leafs lol, I don't think Dubas will risk it, we are in a tough spot.

 

[DarkKnight]

Unfortunately, the leafs will have to send Hutch down, they can't risk losing Sparks on waivers, it would be the 3rd goalie lost, a team might take him just to mess with the Leafs lol, I don't think Dubas will risk it, we are in a tough spot.

I don't see much practical downside if we lose Sparks to be honest, but I get why the team won't "risk" it I suppose.

 

[Polaris1010]

Unfortunately, the leafs will have to send Hutch down, they can't risk losing Sparks on waivers, it would be the 3rd goalie lost, a team might take him just to mess with the Leafs lol, I don't think Dubas will risk it, we are in a tough spot.

Sooner or later, Dubas must make a hockey decision and not those benders of nebulous asset management stories, which can always be reinterpreted at a later date.

Sparks gets waived to be sent to the minors. That is the proper hockey decision. Also keeps the coach happy. The coach is paid more than the GM. If push comes to shove, Geek Man is out the door.

Babcock always says, "play the right way".

He does say "do the right thing", which Dubas beginning to show he incapable of doing it.

 

[Polaris1010]

This tweet says it all you know.

Sparks had his chance. Now they gonna give Hutchinson his chance.

 

[Mr Hockey]

I don't see a much practical downside if we lose Sparks, to be honest, but I get why the team won't "risk" it I suppose.

Hutch is our emergency backup, that can go back and forth and help the Leafs and Marlies. We kind of need Sparks to hold the backup spot. We are caught in a shitty situation right now. how i see it anyways

 

[DarkKnight]

Hutch is our emergency backup, that can go back and forth and help the Leafs and Marlies. We kind of need Sparks to hold the backup spot. We are caught in a ****ty situation right now. how i see it anyways

We do need help with the Marlies goaltending, so that's a factor for sure.

Here's a question, is there anyone who thinks Sparks could bag a 5th rounder? Telling.

 

[Egghead1999]

Unfortunately, the leafs will have to send Hutch down, they can't risk losing Sparks on waivers, it would be the 3rd goalie lost, a team might take him just to mess with the Leafs lol, I don't think Dubas will risk it, we are in a tough spot.

will Flyer pick him up

 

[Mr Hockey]

We do need help with the Marlies goaltending, so that's a factor for sure.

Here's a question, is there anyone who thinks Sparks could bag a 5th rounder? Telling.

You don't want to hear my answer lol

 

[sessiroth]

Isn't it nice that our starting goalie is so solid we are discussing our back ups? Life as a leaf fan is gooood right now.

For real, Andersen is our first legit starting goalie since belfour? Been a long time.

General question, does hutch have to clear waivers to get sent down or is he exempt because he already cleared

 

[JT AM da real deal]

will Flyer pick him up

Hutch can move up and down easily without waivers as he has cleared them. He is signed to a Marlies contract. There is a rule that if he plays up a certain number of games then he has to clear again but Sparks should clear through concussion protocol soon.

 

[Blanche Blanche]

This tweet says it all you know.

Sparks had his chance. Now they gonna give Hutchinson his chance.

I commented on this in another thread.

I take it as Freddy and Hutch know the fundamentals and have good positioning, good strength on tough angles and know how to move within the pipes.

Sparks has a tedency to forget and has rebounds, causing him to panic stretch and fly out of the net.

One has a coach working with him... the other two are practicing with the team.

Hutch should be our backup based on what we see. We will see once he plays a few more games.

 

[Suntouchable13]

It's funny how people forget how brutal Hutch was with Florida just this season. Hutch is not a good goalie. He is not the answer for the backup position. Leafs really have no choice but to have the cheapest backup they can find because of the cap situation. It's not easy to find a legit backup that makes less than a million

 

[DarkKnight]

It's funny how people forget how brutal Hutch was with Florida just this season. Hutch is not a good goalie. He is not the answer for the backup position. Leafs really have no choice but to have the cheapest backup they can find because of the cap situation. It's not easy to find a legit backup that makes less than a million

He played 4 games there. Funny.

 

[pylon17]

Part of Hutch’s appeal was that he’s already cleared waivers, thus we can send him down.

But how does that work? We can send him down/call him up as much as we like because he already cleared waivers once this season while with Florida?