Speculation: TOR may have to acquire another goalie

[ToDavid]

The word "gamble" is really all you need to focus on here to truly understand the failing.

It was a gamble either way. You really think taking the 35 year old journeyman with some of the worst career stats in the league wouldn’t have been a “gamble”?

Keeping Sparks was the smarter bet. Yes he’s struggling this season. But what about next year when Mac is 36 and a UFA? This team is built to contend for a long time. We shouldn’t be panicking over one year of shaky backup goaltending, which hasn’t stopped us from winning at all.

 

[Mess]

How many teams are doing the same thing... the market just doesn’t exist.

Can you name some “actual NHL backups” that are better than Sparks?

How about McElhinney, unless you're classifying him a starter and not a backup in Carolina now?

Babcock's words after Leafs lost him..

Maple Leafs lose goaltenders McElhinney, Pickard on waivers

The Toronto Maple Leafs' goaltending depth took a hit Tuesday after they lost Curtis McElhinney and Calvin Pickard to the waiver wire. McElhinney was claimed by the Carolina Hurricanes and Pickard by the Philadelphia Flyers a day after they were placed on waivers by the Maple Leafs, who are going with Garret Sparks as the backup to No. 1 Frederik Andersen.

The 35-year-old only appeared in 18 games last season as Anderson's backup, but was solid with an 11-5-1 record, 2.14 GAA, .934 save percentage and three shutouts.

"They did unbelievable in getting Mac," Babcock said. "Great person, great family, great pro, does it right everyday, good goaltender. He's a quality man."

"Good for Mac. Good for Pick. Too bad for our depth," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said to open his scrum at Tuesday's skate."That's the way the league is made," Babcock said. "It's made to try to keep everybody exactly the same, right? So that's the way it goes.

https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/maple-leafs-lose-goaltenders-mcelhinney-pickard-on-waivers-1.4118090

 

[bodechek]

No matter how you look at it, the Leafs were going to lose two goalies on the waiver wire. Leafs decided to go with youth (Sparks) and right now it doesn't matter because both Andersen and Sparks are out due to injury. Hoping Hutch can be the temporary stop gap until both goalies are back

 

[The CyNick]

Was probably busy signing Tavares.

If the Leafs need a backup goalie, it shouldn't cost that much. Doesn't seem like Andersen or Sparks are long term though.

Tavares dreamed of playing for our young GM as a little boy.

Groin and head inuries are always wildcards.

Plus the point is Sparks is not good. We've already given away a mid round pick when we could have just kept McBackup and had no issues this season.

 

[The CyNick]

Cliff Fletcher should be your choice of gm than no? Experience and age being the two most important factors in a gm?

Winning is a big factor. Lou was the ideal GM (see his work getting Andy and locking up Rielly and Kadri to team friendly deals) Hunter was the ideal scout (see Marner).

 

[Stephen]

With Hutchinson's shutout last night, do we suddenly have a goalie controversy?

 

[ToDavid]

With Hutchinson's shutout last night, do we suddenly have a goalie controversy?

Unlikely because there won't really be a great opportunity for Hutchinson to steal the job. When Sparks comes back Hutchinson will go down to the Marlies because he doesn't have to pass through waivers. Sparks will probably play around 10 more times, or less, this season. So he would have to be remarkably, otherworldly bad and the team would have to lose a lot for him to lose his job in that many games. Even if he's just shaky and the team stays somewhere around 0.500 in his games, it's not worth losing a guy on waivers to gamble on another backup.

Sparks job is pretty much guaranteed until next training camp. If Hutch plays well with the Marlies then next summer will be when things become interesting.

 

[Clark4Ever]

So far, Hutch has been better than I expected. When Andy returns, he might be adequate as the backup for a while.

 

[Boutette]

How about McElhinney, unless you're classifying him a starter and not a backup in Carolina now?

Babcock's words after Leafs lost him..

Maple Leafs lose goaltenders McElhinney, Pickard on waivers

The Toronto Maple Leafs' goaltending depth took a hit Tuesday after they lost Curtis McElhinney and Calvin Pickard to the waiver wire. McElhinney was claimed by the Carolina Hurricanes and Pickard by the Philadelphia Flyers a day after they were placed on waivers by the Maple Leafs, who are going with Garret Sparks as the backup to No. 1 Frederik Andersen.

The 35-year-old only appeared in 18 games last season as Anderson's backup, but was solid with an 11-5-1 record, 2.14 GAA, .934 save percentage and three shutouts.

"They did unbelievable in getting Mac," Babcock said. "Great person, great family, great pro, does it right everyday, good goaltender. He's a quality man."

"Good for Mac. Good for Pick. Too bad for our depth," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said to open his scrum at Tuesday's skate."That's the way the league is made," Babcock said. "It's made to try to keep everybody exactly the same, right? So that's the way it goes.

https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/maple-leafs-lose-goaltenders-mcelhinney-pickard-on-waivers-1.4118090

A decent backup on a great team often a serviceable starter on a lousy team.

 

[AreBe]

With Hutchinson's shutout last night, do we suddenly have a goalie controversy?

No! Must keep the young, affordable, award winning Sparks- he is the one to keep!
Courtnall for Kordik should not be the standard we seek to achieve, and that is what you'd be doing by trading Sparks, so stop beating them up and show logic, wisdom and reason some mercy!
Victory upon victory, playoff success after playoff success is what we seek to reap!
Unwavering commitment to advanced analytics is how you sow success, so we keep Sparks a possible future Vezna trophy winner, and declare him of our support worthy!

 

[Boutette]

So far, Hutch has been better than I expected. When Andy returns, he might be adequate as the backup for a while.

I liked what I saw last night. He put in quite the mirror Anderson performance. Might help a lot being a right hand glove the way Zaitsev prefers to play though, as it will be much easier for him to catch the pucks that bounce off him due to Zaitsev playing so close in.

 

[FlyingLeafus]

Sparks
HDSV%: .867
Mac
HDSV%: .831

The low danger chances are inflating Mac's numbers. Sparks has been better then him.

Honest question, does this not imply that Sparks is giving up more low danger chances which are arguably more deflating for a team? Where can one find and compare their low danger save percentage?

 

[Boutette]

Unlikely because there won't really be a great opportunity for Hutchinson to steal the job. When Sparks comes back Hutchinson will go down to the Marlies because he doesn't have to pass through waivers. Sparks will probably play around 10 more times, or less, this season. So he would have to be remarkably, otherworldly bad and the team would have to lose a lot for him to lose his job in that many games. Even if he's just shaky and the team stays somewhere around 0.500 in his games, it's not worth losing a guy on waivers to gamble on another backup.

Sparks job is pretty much guaranteed until next training camp. If Hutch plays well with the Marlies then next summer will be when things become interesting.

I'm not so sure about that. Hutch is still fairly young and looks to be handling what gets thrown at him better, and the way Sparks has played this year, I'm no so sure he'll be nabbed on the waiver wire as his NHL cred is fairly low. Could go either way, really, IMHO.

 

[Boutette]

We've already given away a mid round pick when we could have just kept McBackup and had no issues this season.

We can get a mid round pick back just as easily. And since the NHL isn't closing up this year, I like the idea of a backup goalie in his 20s over a backup in the twilight of his career.

 

[Clark4Ever]

I'm not so sure about that. Hutch is still fairly young and looks to be handling what gets thrown at him better, and the way Sparks has played this year, I'm no so sure he'll be nabbed on the waiver wire as his NHL cred is fairly low. Could go either way, really, IMHO.

Even if Hutch proves to be the steadier of the two, there's virtually no chance Dubas will expose Sparks on waivers with Hutch being waiver exempt.

 

[ToDavid]

I'm not so sure about that. Hutch is still fairly young and looks to be handling what gets thrown at him better, and the way Sparks has played this year, I'm no so sure he'll be nabbed on the waiver wire as his NHL cred is fairly low. Could go either way, really, IMHO.

McKenna just got picked up on waivers. Pickard got picked up this season, twice. Sparks would be gone in a heartbeat. Hutchinson could go on a three game shutout streak this week and I still don't see them risking it to upgrade a position that will see very limited ice time and then essentially be shut down in the playoffs.

Hutchinson will provide some sorely needed goalie consistency in the AHL. If he plays well and Sparks continues to struggle then he'll get his shot next season.

 

[leaffaninvancouver]

A decent backup on a great team often a serviceable starter on a lousy team.

Doesn’t McElhimmey have like top 5 stats in save percentage and GAA? Seems more than serviceable.

 

[Le Cobra]

Unlikely because there won't really be a great opportunity for Hutchinson to steal the job. When Sparks comes back Hutchinson will go down to the Marlies because he doesn't have to pass through waivers. Sparks will probably play around 10 more times, or less, this season. So he would have to be remarkably, otherworldly bad and the team would have to lose a lot for him to lose his job in that many games. Even if he's just shaky and the team stays somewhere around 0.500 in his games, it's not worth losing a guy on waivers to gamble on another backup.

Sparks job is pretty much guaranteed until next training camp. If Hutch plays well with the Marlies then next summer will be when things become interesting.

The game against Nashville could be Hutch’s window of opportunity

 

[zeke]

With Freddy: 112pt pace
With Backups: 112pt pace

 

[Mr Hockey]

you guys should forget about Mcbackup, Levio, Riemer, etc, they are gone, move on

 

[The CyNick]

We can get a mid round pick back just as easily. And since the NHL isn't closing up this year, I like the idea of a backup goalie in his 20s over a backup in the twilight of his career.

What about a backup who can't play in the league? That's what Sparks is.

Also would like directions to this draft pick tree you speak of.

 

[AreBe]

I'm not so sure about that. Hutch is still fairly young and looks to be handling what gets thrown at him better, and the way Sparks has played this year, I'm no so sure he'll be nabbed on the waiver wire as his NHL cred is fairly low. Could go either way, really, IMHO.

Sparks will be grabbed in a millisecond on the waiver wire
"Sparks was awarded the Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award as the AHL goaltender with the lowest goals against average, which helped lead the Marlies to their first Calder Cup." so we would gift him, ho, ho, ho (Garret Sparks - Wikipedia)
Getting rid of Sparks is so incredibly ill-considered , we might as well set Dubas's math -based plan on fire
Costs count and you cannot afford to pay your backup big bucks and if you trade away an award winning goalie you deserve to be fired and sit with the idiot fans, is that not so?

 

[indigobuffalo]

Tavares dreamed of playing for our young GM as a little boy.

Groin and head inuries are always wildcards.

Plus the point is Sparks is not good. We've already given away a mid round pick when we could have just kept McBackup and had no issues this season.

Where are we after this season when we lost Sparks and Pickard on waivers? Let’s assume McBackup is retiring after this season.

We do not have anyone in the pipeline even close to being ready to backup. And so they sign a UFA.

And imagine we watch Sparks doing what he’s doing now.. (being allegedly “not good”) putting up stats better than most starters.

Historically UFA backup goalies are not good. Teams are struggling to find goalies as good as Sparks, they aren’t letting better ones hit UFA.

So we would have no goalie depth, no backup, and either have a worse backup or have to give up a better pick just to get a worse goalie...

I mean, your plan has such a solid foundation I assume you must be part of the Montreal mafia.

 

[sxvnert]

Where are we after this season when we lost Sparks and Pickard on waivers? Let’s assume McBackup is retiring after this season.

We do not have anyone in the pipeline even close to being ready to backup. And so they sign a UFA.

And imagine we watch Sparks doing what he’s doing now.. (being allegedly “not good”) putting up stats better than most starters.

Historically UFA backup goalies are not good. Teams are struggling to find goalies as good as Sparks, they aren’t letting better ones hit UFA.

So we would have no goalie depth, no backup, and either have a worse backup or have to give up a better pick just to get a worse goalie...

I mean, your plan has such a solid foundation I assume you must be part of the Montreal mafia.

Thats why you draft/trade for a young goaltender. We have a ton of decent/solid prospects who will most likely never play for the big club. Time to make some moves. I could stomach losing games when a young potential future starter is learning his craft but losing them on a steming pile of garbage like sparks who at best will become a decent backup is idiotic.

 

[biotk]

I could stomach losing games when a young potential future starter is learning his craft but losing them on a steming pile of garbage like sparks who at best will become a decent backup is idiotic.

From starts this season:
Freddie 20-9-1 0.683
Sparks 6-2-1 0.722
Hutch 1-3-2 0.333 (if you want to just go with Leafs' games 1-2-0 0.333)

The Sparks hate has nothing to do with winning or losing.