Will Bobrovsky Fix The Toronto Maple Leafs?
The Toronto Maple Leafs have found their starting goalie for the season, but will he really fix their goaltending woes?
The Toronto Maple Leafs have been making some noise over the last couple of weeks in the NHL world. Newly appointed general manager John Chayka has shown that he is not shy about making a ballsy move, as he started his tenure with a sign-and-trade for late-bloomer Darren Raddysh, inking him to an 8-year contract at $ 8.5 million per year. This move was seen as courageous, but it shows that the Leafs are not going to sit around and will get pieces to be a real contender in the East.
After a slew of moves to start free agency, Chayka set his eyes on another big target, this time in goal. The big move was the signing of Sergei Bobrovsky to a three-year contract with an AAV of $ 7.0 million. With the Leafs trading Joseph Woll to the Philadelphia Flyers for assets, there was a feeling of something brewing. Bobrovsky became linked to the Leafs after a now-deleted viral leak of a graphic showing the two-time Vezina Trophy winner on the jumbotron at Scotiabank Arena in blue and white.
This acquisition cements the identity of the John Chayka-led Leafs, firmly positioning them to contend for a playoff spot, with eyes on the Stanley Cup. However, is it actually a smart move? Let’s go over some pros and cons of the Leafs new starting goalie.
The Pros.
He has a winning history.
Sergei Bobrovsky is a born winner. Since starting his career, he has the most wins for a goalie among NHL goalies. He’s been single-handedly relied upon to carry the Blue Jackets to the playoffs and backstop the Florida Panthers to deep playoff runs, including earning two Stanley Cups in the process.
A Big Time Playoff Player.
One of the main things the Leafs most likely took into account when analyzing which goalie to take for the upcoming season was Bobrovsky's playoff pedigree.
Sergei was able to take over games and became a true playoff performer when the Florida Panthers needed him most. This is what the Maple Leafs are banking on. If Bobrovsky can take over games, it will allow the Leafs to win games when other areas of the team are underperforming.
They have, however, had incredible goaltending performances from Joseph Woll and James Reimer, but Brobovsky has the playoff experience and Stanley Cup-winning experience that these goalies don’t have, which will be a massive boost for the Leafs core in general.
Having a goalie who has won the Stanley Cup and knows what it takes to get there will be a great presence in the locker room. He is a big-time player who can boost his own play and, hopefully, help the rest improve.
He can still move.
Despite his long career, Bobrovsky still continues to show three attributes which have held up to the test of time: speed, competitiveness, and athleticism.
Even this season, Bobrovsky has shown relentless compete, throwing himself toward pucks and stretching to make death-defying stops. The Leafs have lacked a goaltender who can steal games. Bobrovsky has at least shown he can still steal otherwise-guaranteed goals.
These are some very positive points, but what are the negatives of this signing?
The Cons.
Frankly, he was NOT good last year.
Among the 91 qualified goalies who played an NHL game this season, he was 90th with a -23.66 GSAA (Goals Saved Above Expected). This essentially means GSAA measures how many goals a goalie prevented compared to an average league-standard goalie facing the exact same number of shots. He had an absolute shocker of a season, during which he also took on a full workload of 52 games.
This is incredibly worrying for a team that just spent 7 million dollars on a goalie who will most likely play at least 40 games if he is healthy all season. We went over what he WAS able to do with a good team in front of him and how he was able to win and become a true playoff performer, but the team and culture are different in Toronto, and he wasn’t the same player as he was those years before.
If we see the Bobrovsky that we have seen this last season, this will be very similar to the Patrick Marleau situation that happened, where they signed Marleau for a 3 year 6.25 mil AAV deal hoping for a veteran in the top-6 but ended up trading him along with a conditional 2020 first-round pick, and a 2020 seventh-round pick to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a 2020 sixth-round pick. The conditional first-round pick turned out to be Seth Jarvis. So let’s hope for the Leafs; there’s still some in the tank for Bob, or the age will get to him.
The Neutral Middle
He is OLD, but this could have benefits.
The final big point I want to mention is that he is old, and eventually his skill or workload will diminish. With a $7 million AAV, they need their backup to step up and create a more 1A-1B situation in nets. Currently, they have Stolarz, who is a fine goalie but incredibly injury-prone. The next goalie up was Dennis Hildeby, who looked stellar in his limited action this season, but he was traded away for Nick Paul. The next goalie up is rookie Artur Akhtyamov, who just won the Calder Cup MVP, or the Jack A Butterfield Trophy in the AHL.
Akhtyamov has a history with Bobrovsky, seeing him as his favourite goalie and mentor, which, honestly, is a plus in its own right. This situation can go in many directions, but having him in the locker room can help mould Akhtyamov into the starting goalie of the future. But in their current situation, the Leafs need Bob’s age not to affect or diminish his play, because they are in a win-now window, not a develop-their-goalie-prospect window. This is why it is seen as a plus and a negative aspect of this signing.
In the End
Sergei Bobrovsky is the epitome of elite goaltending. There is no going around the consistency and elite play that he has generated over the years. The signing makes complete sense for the Leafs, who have been hunting for healthy and consistent goalies for years.
Bobrovsky has shown he can win in both the regular season and the playoffs, so there is a 100% chance the Leafs get a top-10 goalie for the 3 years of his contract. The movement is still at a high level, and his hockey senses still look incredibly present. He is still able to steal games, which brings some confidence back on this being a good signing.
However, age will eventually catch up with him, as it does with all of us, so Leafs fans should pray it’s at the end of his three-year contract, not at the beginning. If it does, it will be a very rough three years for the Leafs’ goaltending.