Confirmed with Link: [TOR/VGK] TOR acquire David Clarkson & a 2020 4th Round Pick from VGK for Garrett Sparks

[LeafsOHLRangers98]

uhhhhhh.....we had one. Then we waived him.

Big Mac: 33GP 20W 11L .912 SV% 2.58GAA
Sparks : 20 GP 8W 9L .902 SV% 3.15GAA

So a .606 winning%
Vs a .400 winning%

That's very much home ice.

Here's the thing though. How many goaltenders suddenly have the best years of their career's at 35+ years old? The only guy I can really think of is Tim Thomas.

If you're the GM of a team and your 35 year old backup goaltender has a career year. Are you really going to take the chance he can repeat that performance? Absolutely not.

Take it as the outlier and pick between your two younger guys. Unfortunately none of it worked out for either us, Sparks, or Pickard, but the smart money was moving away from Mac.

Also as others have mentioned given the same workload, a .606 SV% would not have meant home ice in the playoffs.

He had a .904 CAREER SV% before getting to Toronto which basically the same as Sparks last year and a below league average goaltender.

 

[DarkKnight]

He went 11-5-1 in what was a career outlier with a .930 save% and 2 of the wins were games he didn’t even start. In games McElhinney started he was 9-5-1. Now consider he would have to exceed his career outlier season for the Leafs to have tied Boston (I’m not sure who carried the tie breaker).

He went 20-11 last year too, there goes the outlier argument. Also consider if our backup had done anything the second half, we would have been closer to Boston and pushed harder to catch them, as opposed to the mail it in stuff we saw the last month. Saying 7 points is just part of the story.

Sparks probably cost us home ice. I’ll never understand how people flippantly dismiss a player who plays the most important position 20 percent of the year. Backups don’t matter...get a clue. They aren’t high profile but in a parity league where every point counts, come on.

Anyways, the debate about Sparks is long past settled, there are always stragglers I suppose.

 

[Spirit of 67]

We did not get a 4th pick for him. We got the pick for the Clarkson contract. Sparks value was nothing.

LOL.

Whatever helps you sleep at night.

 

[The Podium]

He went 20-11 last year too, there goes the outlier argument. Also consider if our backup had done anything the second half, we would have been closer to Boston and pushed harder to catch them, as opposed to the mail it in stuff we saw the last month. Saying 7 points is just part of the story.

Sparks probably cost us home ice. I’ll never understand how people flippantly dismiss a player who plays the most important position 20 percent of the year. Backups don’t matter...get a clue. They aren’t high profile but in a parity league where every point counts, come on.

Anyways, the debate about Sparks is long past settled, there are always stragglers I suppose.

20-11 is a 0.645 W% while we needed a 0.706 W% to catch Boston. Also he had a 0.912 save % vs 0.934 the year prior so yes 2017-2018 was an outlier season for McElhinney.

Do not get me wrong, Sparks was god awful and it’s definitely a position that could be improved. With that said it is extremely unlikely that any other backup would’ve been the difference. The only arguments that could be made are perhaps Babs plays a different backup more games and Andersen gets a much needed rest for the playoffs.

 

[Nithoniniel]

I’ll never understand how people flippantly dismiss a player who plays the most important position 20 percent of the year.

To say that another backup goalie wouldn't have a larger impact than most of the league has over the course of a full year is not being flippantly dismissive. 19 goalies in total was worth that many wins last season according to Evolving-Wild, for example. McElhinney was not one of them. Only one was in a clear backup role. Connor McDavid's season was statistically worth about 7 points in the standings.

 

[Marshy]

20-11 is a 0.550 W% while we needed a 0.706 W% to catch Boston. Also he had a 0.912 save % vs 0.934 the year prior so yes 2017-2018 was an outlier season for McElhinney.

Do not get me wrong, Sparks was god awful and it’s definitely a position that could be improved. With that said it is extremely unlikely that any other backup would’ve been the difference. The only arguments that could be made are perhaps Babs plays a different backup more games and Andersen gets a much needed rest for the playoffs.

20-11 is .645 win %

 

[justafan22]

To say that another backup goalie wouldn't have a larger impact than most of the league has over the course of a full year is not being flippantly dismissive. 19 goalies in total was worth that many wins last season according to Evolving-Wild, for example. McElhinney was not one of them. Only one was in a clear backup role. Connor McDavid's season was statistically worth about 7 points in the standings.

I love that people forget that most backup goalies suck.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

20-11 is a 0.550 W% while we needed a 0.706 W% to catch Boston. Also he had a 0.912 save % vs 0.934 the year prior so yes 2017-2018 was an outlier season for McElhinney.

Do not get me wrong, Sparks was god awful and it’s definitely a position that could be improved. With that said it is extremely unlikely that any other backup would’ve been the difference. The only arguments that could be made are perhaps Babs plays a different backup more games and Andersen gets a much needed rest for the playoffs.

He didn't do that when he had McElhinney in his last year either though. That was probably a large part of the reason why Dubas wanted Sparks in the first place. Sparks played 52 games last year including playoffs. McElhinney played 19 (including one playoff game) and for the most part hovered around 20 games in his career. They probably thought Babcock would be more inclined to use Sparks in at least half of the games he played last year, and even when Sparks was doing well, he still wasn't used.

I just find it odd that there are fans who are blaming him for the Leafs not getting home ice advantage when it was easily a team effort. The Sparks losses were terrible team efforts, and are simply unacceptable no matter who they put in net. There were a lot of stinkers in front of Andersen too. That needs to be the focus, because right now it's not just one or two players keeping us from going far in the playoffs (even though some terrible Gardiner performances and the Kadri suspensions could easily make a claim of being difference makers the past two years), but rather a good portion of the entire team. Dubas has done his job again, and I don't think he's taking the blame for Babcock anymore.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

I love that people forget that most backup goalies suck.

And the ones who don't make 3-4x more than Sparks...

 

[ACC1224]

I love that people forget that most backup goalies suck.

As a Leaf fan I don't care about the 'most' that 'suck', just the one they had that did 'suck'.

 

[justafan22]

And the ones who don't make 3-4x more than Sparks...

Exactly. Spending money on a non elite backup is fools gold.

Unless you're getting a Halak/Miller type, save your cap for other needs.

 

[DarkKnight]

To say that another backup goalie wouldn't have a larger impact than most of the league has over the course of a full year is not being flippantly dismissive. 19 goalies in total was worth that many wins last season according to Evolving-Wild, for example. McElhinney was not one of them. Only one was in a clear backup role. Connor McDavid's season was statistically worth about 7 points in the standings.

Yes, but you’re omitting we had McBackup. That’s the point.

 

[DarkKnight]

I love that people forget that most backup goalies suck.

I love how we forget ours didn’t.

 

[justafan22]

I love how we forget ours didn’t.

McElhinney was 35. Leafs made the right bet, just got a bad result.

it happens.

McElhinney wouldn't have been the reason why they didn't beat boston anyways.

They were 2-2 at TD Garden vs 1-2 at home in the series.

 

[BertCorbeau]

McElhinney was 35. Leafs made the right bet, just got a bad result.

it happens.

McElhinney wouldn't have been the reason why they didn't beat boston anyways.

They were 2-2 at TD Garden vs 1-2 at home in the series.

Also McBackup only got on the Leafs because the Jackets waived him... he’s had a remarkable run that defies logic really given his age

 

[diceman934]

LOL.

Whatever helps you sleep at night.

It is a fact. Get a grip. We gave Vegas cap relief and they used it immediately to sign their home town boy and assistant captain. That is why we got the 4th. Which I think we should have gotten a lot more then a 4th. Spark brought down the return.

 

[diceman934]

McElhinney was 35. Leafs made the right bet, just got a bad result.

it happens.

McElhinney wouldn't have been the reason why they didn't beat boston anyways.

They were 2-2 at TD Garden vs 1-2 at home in the series.

No way in hell did they make the right decision. They could have kept 3 goalies we had a ton of cap space and easily could have waived Marincin. Babcock did not want him. The players knew they kept the wrong goalie. We were trying to win not just get to the playofffs. It was assine that we kept an inferior goalie at a time we were trying to win the cup.

Babcock would have used him a lot more down the stretch as he was winning games and Freddy would have been better.

 

[Mr Hockey]

I love that people forget that most backup goalies suck.

most 100 point teams have decent backups ... I have a feeling Sparks raised the stress level in that dressing room for the players/coaches because he was not NHL caliber

 

[justafan22]

most 100 point teams have decent backups ... I have a feeling Sparks raised the stress level in that dressing room for the players/coaches because he was not NHL caliber

Tampa had Domingue, who put up below league average sv%. Don't cherry pick stats.

 

[Mr Hockey]

Tampa had Domingue, who put up below league average sv%. Don't cherry pick stats.

huh?, I didn't cherry-pick, but you just did

 

[Maple Leaf]

Sparks is one of the worsts goalies to ever play in the NHL

 

[justafan22]

Also McBackup only got on the Leafs because the Jackets waived him... he’s had a remarkable run that defies logic really given his age

This board thinks McElhinney is belfour.

LMAO

 

[ToDavid]

I'm still pretty angry about Dubas giving Sparks his opportunity last season.

Perhaps TOR could have had home ice advantage in the playoffs

Perhaps not. McElhinney wasn't exactly a Vezina candidate last season. I feel like people are remembering his strong start and forgetting that he was pretty average over the course of the full year.

 

[justafan22]

Perhaps not. McElhinney wasn't exactly a Vezina candidate last season. I feel like people are remembering his strong start and forgetting that he was pretty average over the course of the full year.

It's also because Sparks is an outspoken goalie who was bad last year, so he's an easy target for fan anger.

 

[Nithoniniel]

Yes, but you’re omitting we had McBackup. That’s the point.

I don't follow. I'm not omitting anything, I'm pointing out how extreme it is to expect that kind of impact in that kind of role. It hardly ever happens.