Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Better Options In Goal For The Toronto Maple Leafs Than Frederik Andersen?

02/27/2021 at 9:33am EST

by Damien Cox at the Toronto Star,

Could they replace the 31-year-old Andersen with a free agent next summer, like they replaced Curtis Joseph with Ed Belfour 19 years ago? Possibly. Of the netminders currently set to be out there this summer, Pekka Rinne, Jordan Binnington and Tuukka Rask could possibly provide an upgrade.

Rinne’s having a bounceback season on a mediocre Preds squad, but he’s 37 (same age Belfour was). Rask is 34. Binnington is only 27, but it’s hard to see the Blues letting him walk. Then again, Vancouver let Jacob Markstrom leave for Calgary as a free agent at age 30.

How free-agent goalies will perform in new cities is difficult to predict. Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky has not come close to giving value for his $10-million (U.S.) cap hit. Holtby ($4.3 million) has been average with the leaky Canucks. Semyon Varlamov, meanwhile, has been very good behind a sturdy defensive team in Long Island since leaving Colorado in the summer of 2019.

So the Leafs, in theory, could upgrade the position. But they might not, and could spend a lot of money trying.

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

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