Goalie Talk In Edmonton And Toronto

from David Staples of the Edmonton Journal,

1. It’s entertaining to think that the loss and suffering of the Leafs might be to the benefit of the Oilers. But, in the end, that’s just a side show. The real issue is a) whether Campbell is indeed coming to Edmonton b) what will be the term and cap hit and c) how might he be expected to perform as an Oiler.
2. On the first question, Friedman sums it up nicely, with the hockey world now expecting Campbell to end up in Edmonton. Here he will be lining alongside former Leafs like Zach Hyman and Cody Ceci. Both Hyman and Ceci made a huge splash in Edmonton in their first season. Hyman had his best year as an NHLer and came up huge for the Oilers in the playoffs. Ceci, who was little loved in Toronto, aced it for the Oil, working his way up until he was the team’s best d-man in the final months of the season and the playoffs, and all that on an NHL-average salary. His contract represented one of the best value propositions in the entire NHL.
3. On the second question, we hear an awful lot about five years of term at $5 million a season. Campbell is surely worth that high priced bet over two or three years, but things could go sideways if Stuart Skinner develops fast and exceeds Campbell’s play in the net. How will the Oilers find the money to pay for both goalies? This is why some in Toronto are OK with the Leafs going with Murray even if he’s an inferior bet for next season. His contract is up in two years, so the Leafs won’t be locked in long term like the Oilers will be with Campbell.

from Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun,

“He’s very excited as he begins the next chapter of his hockey career with the Toronto Maple Leafs,” Murray’s agent, Rob Hooper, told Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch via text.
It’s the same Murray who has a history of injury trouble, including concussions, and has not provided consistent goaltending in the NHL for the past several seasons. It’s impossible to see how acquiring Murray, a native of Thunder Bay, Ont., would be the final piece of the puzzle to put the Leafs on the road to serious Stanley Cup contention.
Not that Jack Campbell, who sounds like he will be following in the steps of Zach Hyman last year and signing with the Edmonton Oilers once free agency opens on Wednesday at 12 p.m. ET, would have been an ironclad guarantee in that regard either. But it’s somewhat hard to believe the Leafs couldn’t get something done with the affable Campbell.
When the Leafs were lugging around the contract that shouldn’t have been given to Petr Mrazek last summer, the club couldn’t afford Campbell.
Once general manager Kyle Dubas shed the Leafs of the last two years of the deal, enticing the plummeting Chicago Blackhawks last week with a late first-round pick to take Mrazek, the thinking was Toronto would have the financial means to retain Campbell, or if not, go after Darcy Kuemper, fresh off winning the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche.

Goalie Talk In Edmonton And Toronto

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