What’s Leafs’ next move?
TORONTO — Jonathan Bernier’s 10-day conditioning assignment in the American Hockey League was not enough to change the Maple Leafs goaltender’s status on the depth chart. Despite a successful fourgame stint behind the high- flying Marlies, his return to the NHL on Tuesday resulted in five goals on 27 shots in an overtime loss to Tampa Bay.
Instead of giving Bernier more rope, Leafs head coach Mike Babcock elected to give Garret Sparks the start in net on Thursday against the San Jose Sharks.
However, the plan f or the night changed when Sparks left the game less than 15 minutes into the first period with what was described as a lower- body injury.
That meant the Leafs had to call on Bernier, who was 3- 0- 1 with three shutouts in the AHL but remained winless in the NHL this season heading into Thursday night’s play. However, the decision to start Sparks showed Babcock still has no confidence in Bernier — a feeling no doubt reinforced by the Leafs blowing a 4-2 third period lead in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Sharks.
The conditioning assignment was the first and most obvious step to take to shake Bernier from his slump. So what’s next? Here are the possibilities:
Waive
If management would like Bernier to continue playing and Babcock doesn’t want to play him, the best course of action would be to put him on waivers for the purpose of sending him to the Marlies on an indefinite basis.
Although he could be claimed by another t eam during a 24- hour window, it’s unlikely any team would do so given his $ 4.15- million cap hit coupled with his current NHL stat line (. 881 save percentage, 3.45 goals against average in 10 games heading into Thursday night). As a comparison, Ducks goaltender Anton Khudobin was placed on waivers on Monday. He carried a .908 save percentage and 2.70 GAA in eight games this season, and Khudobin’s more attractive $2.25-million cap hit still wasn’t enough for him to be claimed.
Trade
Finding a reasonable return will be difficult, though. Bernier’s stock is at an all- time low and the Leafs would probably have to retain a portion of his salary or take on a contract in return. It’s unlikely the Leafs would go this route until they rehabbed their beleaguered goaltender.
Keep Playing
The Maple Leafs are still in the early stages of what was promised to be a long rebuild. Why not allow Bernier to dig himself out of his current hole? The Leafs are not expected to a contend for a Stanley Cup anytime soon and they are already 11 points out of the final playoff spot this season. If he succeeds in fixing his problems, a few positive games in the NHL will bolster his trade value.
Buyout
At the end of this first rebuilding season, not everyone will remain with the club. Shedding some salary to create cap room would allow the team to give raises to those players they want to keep in the off-season. If the Leafs pursue potential free agent Steven Stamkos, he may command a price close to $10 million a season. Bernier has one year remaining on his contract beyond this season. Buying him out would reduce next year’s cap hit from $4.15 million to $ 1.383 million ( and would add a cap hit of $ 1.383 million for 2017-18 as well).