IT’S NET COMPETITION TIME FOR LEAFS
Backup goalie Campbell has hot hand, so give him starter’s role over Andersen
Do the Toronto Maple Leafs have a goalie controversy?
Maybe. But that’s not what they call it in Boston, Pittsburgh, Washington or the many other NHL cities where the backup goalie has temporarily taken over the starter’s job.
There, they call it riding the hot hand.
And that’s what the Leafs need to do now.
They need to put Frederik Andersen’s feelings, salary and reputation aside and do what’s best for the team. For the foreseeable future, that means handing over the keys to the net to Jack Campbell.
Campbell might have been brought to Toronto to simply replace Michael Hutchinson as the backup goalie. But since going 3-0-1 with a .919 save percentage, he’s deserving of a promotion.
He should start against the Penguins on Thursday. And if he wins that game, there’s no reason not to keep starting him.
This doesn’t mean the Leafs should move on from Andersen or designate him as the backup. It just means that until Campbell cools down or Andersen re-finds his game, head coach Sheldon Keefe has to give the team the best chance to win and stay in the playoff hunt.
It’s what other teams do. And it’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Pittsburgh, which benched Marc-andre Fleury in favour of Matt Murray for their back-toback championships in 2016 and 2017, has now replaced Murray with red-hot Tristan Jarry.
When Washington won two years ago, it was Philipp Grubauer — not Vezina Trophy winner Braden Holtby — who started in Game 1 of the playoffs.
This year, despite sending Holtby to the NHL All-star Game, he’s once again battled with rookie Ilya Samsonov for the starter’s job.
The moves don’t always stick. Holtby eventually replaced Grubbier in Game 2 of the 2018 playoffs and never gave up the net again.
But even if it’s temporary, they can cause a lasting effect by raising the competition between two goalies — something that Andersen could use at this point of the season.
While Andersen was arguably the team’s MVP for the first-half of the year, he has gone 4-4-2 since the calendar turned over, with a .880 save percentage. In each of his past two starts, he’s given up five goals. You can blame the defence all you want, but until Morgan Rielly returns from injury or GM Kyle Dubas brings in a decent defenceman, the Leafs need someone to keep the puck of the net.
Right now, that’s not Andersen.
TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT
Great point by TSN’S Jeff O’neill (via a conversation with his dad) on how to properly evaluate the season that Toronto’s Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and John Tavares are having. Forget about the statistics, he said. When you’re making $10-plus million, the team is not paying you to necessarily produce goals or points — it’s more about producing wins. All three are failing in that department … The bump that the Leafs experienced from replacing Mike Babcock with Sheldon Keefe is long gone. After going 15-4-1, the team is now 7-8-3. That’s a clear indicator that the problem with this roster was never about coaching … “To win a Stanley Cup, you’ve got to beat four teams in the league,” Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper told me last month. “It’s just got to be the four right teams.” If you’re the Leafs, can you come up with the so-called “right” four teams? … Don’t look now, but reigning Art Ross Trophy winner Nikita Kucherov is among the top-10 in scoring. Most of his production has come in the past month, with only Leon Draisaitl (20 points in 10 games) outscoring Kucherov (19 points in 11 games) since the all-star break.
HERE’S ONE FOR YOU
Entering Wednesday’s games, with five weeks to go, the surging Lightning are one point back of first place in the Eastern Conference, while the Blue Jackets are tied for the final wild-card spot. What a first-round rematch that would be … Sidney Crosby, who has 23 points in 13 games since returning from injury, has a total of 40 points in 30 games this season. That’s a 109-point pace from the 32-year-old, which had he been healthy would have tied his second-best season … I don’t understand the criticism being lobbied at Canucks GM Jim Benning for acquiring Tyler Toffoli the day before announcing Brock Boeser could be out for the season. Yeah, I get it, Vancouver probably isn’t going to win a Cup this year or even go deep without a full lineup. But if Toffoli can ensure that Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes get a taste of the playoffs — and the experience that comes with it — isn’t that worth giving up a second-round pick and a couple of prospects? … Word out of Buffalo is that head coach Ralph Krueger, who used to be the chairman of Southampton Football Club, could move from behind the bench and replace Jason Botterill as the Sabres GM. If so, the offensively challenged team would be wise to hire Bruce Boudreau, who’s missed the playoffs only twice in 13 years, as their new head coach.
FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH
A few years ago, when the Predators were playing the Ducks in the Western Conference Final, former Leafs head coach Mike Babcock happened to be in Nashville enjoying a little R&R. Word was that he was also scouting defenceman Sami Vatanen, who is now in New Jersey and on the trade market. Wonder if the Leafs still have the same interest … Tampa Bay and Toronto better hope that Chris Kreider, whom according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman is being pursued by the Bruins, Islanders, Avalanche and Blues, ends up anywhere but the Eastern Conference … Expect the recent criticisms over officiating and the way that the department of player safety has doled out fines and suspensions to be discussed at next month’s GM meetings in Boca Raton, Fla. After last year’s playoffs, where officiating was blamed almost on a nightly basis, the last thing the league wants is for players, coaches and fans to feel like anyone is being cheated out of a win … As happy as Ilya Kovalchuk has looked in Montreal, can you imagine his smile were the Penguins to acquire him at the deadline?
GIVE DRAISAITL THE HART TROPHY ALREADY
The debate is over.
If the season were to end today, I’d be casting a first-place Hart Trophy vote for Leon Draisaitl. I wouldn’t have said that if Connor Mcdavid didn’t get injured.
Back then, I would have had Draisaitl behind Mcdavid, Nathan Mackinnon, David Pastrnak and maybe even Artemi Panarin, Roman Josi and Jacob Markstrom on my ballot. But since the Oilers captain went down, Draisaitl has stepped up in a big way to lead Edmonton to the top of the Pacific Division standings.
Draisaitl, who has 34 goals in 59 games, leads all scorers with 95 points. Of those, three goals and seven assists have come in the four games without
Mcdavid, with the Oilers going 3-1-0 during that span.
That’s a huge statement for a team that has relied so heavily on Mcdavid and Draisaitl for its offensive production. The thinking was that if you took one of them away, Edmonton’s house of cards would crumble.
Like Pittsburgh, which seems to play better whenever Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin is out of the lineup, the Oilers are finding that they have a lot more depth than anyone gave them credit for.
The Oilers are definitely a better team with Mcdavid in the lineup. But as this past week has shown, they are more than just a one-man team. If anything, Draisaitl is not only proving that he is able to get the job done in Mcdavid’s absence, but that he is also capable of making others around him better.
That’s why the great players do. They turn the ordinary into the extraordinary.
Right now, the player receiving the biggest boost has been Kailer Yamamoto, who has four goals in his past four games. Draisaitl has assisted on every single one of those goals. In the process, he’s asserted himself as the best player in the league.
STAR TALENT MISSING FROM THIS YEAR’S TRADE DEADLINE
There is no Ray Bourque available at this year’s NHL trade deadline. No Brett Hull, Marian Hossa or Markus Naslund. There’s not even a Matt Duchene.
With less than a week before the Feb. 24 deadline, the biggest name out there remains Chris Kreider of the New York Rangers, who has never scored 30 goals or 55 points and is currently tied for 72nd in league scoring.
Chances are the 28-year-old winger will get moved for a first-round pick and possibly much more. That’s how much of a sellers’ market this year’s trade deadline has become.
Alec Martinez, who no one will confuse with Drew Doughty or even Jake Muzzin, was traded from Los Angeles to Vegas on Wednesday for a pair of second-round picks.
Marco Scandella, whom Montreal acquired from Buffalo for a fourth-round pick in January, was flipped to St. Louis on Tuesday for a second-round pick and a conditional fourth-rounder.
Brenden Dillon, a stay-at-home defenceman who doesn’t do much more than kill penalties and chip pucks off the glass, went from San Jose to Washington for a second-round pick and a conditional third-rounder.
Dylan Demelo, who was trusted with fewer minutes than Nikita Zaitsev and Ron Hainsey in Ottawa, was dealt to Winnipeg for a third-round pick.
Perhaps that is why so many teams (Pittsburgh acquiring Jason Zucker and Tampa Bay landing Blake Coleman) are looking past the rentals and acquiring players with term remaining on their deals. After all, if you’re going to give up a lot for a player, then you might as well get him for more than a couple of months.
It also makes you wonder what the asking price might be for Minnesota’s Matt Dumba, who not only has three years remaining on his deal, but is good enough to impact a team.