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Leaf Rumours

I'll be somewhat surprised, and somewhat disappointed, if Burke doesn't go out and get a goalie before end of January.

Gustavsson, regardless of his recent heart issue is just a minor scare or a more serious issue, cannot start 50 or 60 games for you in his rookie season. He's been good, but he's shown he's a rookie and he still needs more time adjusting to the NHL, whether it's the game itself, or the schedule, or the workload.

Vesa, OTOH, has absolutely STUNK. It was bad enough to try to have his share the net with Gusto back in the summer, but you know he can't be relied upon for any NHL duty, you HAVE to replace him. He's the biggest confidence killer for the team, and that's very bad for a rebuilding team.
 
Dipietro is in Bridgeport on a conditioning stint so within the next two weeks, one of Biron or Rollie will become available.

More then likely it will be Biron considering Rollies play.

I would be ok with a Biron/Gus split for this season
 
Biron is a very solid goalie.

But I'm really scared that Burke is refusing to give up on Toskala, which just boggles my mind.
 
The toughest part about that decision is actually NOT the goalie acquisition part. With Fernandez still in the market, and not much demand for goalies period, I don't anticipate a very high asking price for any of the goalies we might be after. And the fact the Leafs are playing better as of late, it also puts Burke in a better position to trade.

The toughest part is actually to admit Vesa's a write-off and bury him in the AHL. IMO that's the ONLY thing keeping Burke from making a trade / signing till this point.

I don't think there's any doubt in Burke's mind how bad Vesa's been. I hope he reaches the conclusion that Vesa will only continue to be this bad for the rest of his contract and move on from there.
 
Damn Toskala.

I wasn't expecting miracles from him; just somewhere around a .900 save percent, which is his below-average career norm, but at least it would give the team a chance to win. He really hurt our playoff chances by playing so many of those games early in the season and not stopping anything.

Considering how much he has done to harm our playoff hopes, even if he looks like he is playing better, I just don't understand how we can keep playing him. I'd rather go with MacDonald as the backup.
 
That'd be bad news. Valiquette, at 32, had a couple respectable season as backup for the Rangers, but has struggled this season. At best, Valiquette is a decent NHL backup. If Burke grabs Valiquette, he's looking at him as a band-aid solution until Vesa / Gusto returns. They'll probably put him on waiver when they return, and if nobody picks him up they'll bury him in the AHL.
 
Valiquette has only played 6 games this year, which is still a small enough range in which 1 bad game can really skewer his save %.

.850 is Toskala-brutal though, which I can't stomach. I wouldn't mind signing him to act as a vet goalie in the AHL, where he can hopefully find his game and maybe play a few games in the Leaf net. But if we're going to make a goalie signing for the Leafs, it should be someone who is undervalued but playing pretty decent. Like Biron.
 
Valiquette (32)

Career NHL: 46gms, .905sv%
Career AHL: 197gms, .916sv%

sure. why not?
 
At this point, we all know Vesa sucks and shouldn't be considered part of the plan going forward. In light of that, you're really looking for a goalie to share the net with Gusto.

Yet another uncertainty is the last thing I'd want, especially when his upside is so limited.
 
You guys realize that for tommorrow night, our current goaltender situation looks like its MacDonald starting, with Engelage backing up, right?
 
Definitely Biron....the only team really looking to bid against us would be Detroit I'm assuming....and I think Holland is still willing to believe that he's enough of a genius to get by without a goalie.
 
zeke said:
You guys realize that for tommorrow night, our current goaltender situation looks like its MacDonald starting, with Engelage backing up, right?
Click to expand...
Like I said, if Valiquette is the band-aid solution until either or both of Vesa / Gusto comes back, then fine, so be it.

But ultimately Vesa cannot be part of this team's goaltending duo, even as a backup, and if Valiquette is their answer than in all likelihood it means it'll still be Gusto / Vesa for the rest of this season. I'd rather Burke goes after a better goalie - Lehtonen, Fernandez ... either now, or at a later time.
 
Lehtonen would be a good pick up on the cheap, and he could battle with Gus. That will give us 2 potential star goalies.
 
Artnes said:
Dipietro is in Bridgeport on a conditioning stint so within the next two weeks, one of Biron or Rollie will become available.

More then likely it will be Biron considering Rollies play.

I would be ok with a Biron/Gus split for this season
Click to expand...
I don't really want to see us trade any assets for a backup goalie though. Why should we? Like BeLeafer's been pimping for weeks now, just sign Manny Fernandez. Then you get a decent veteran goalie without having to give up any assets, and you probably get him on the cheap too, considering he's a Toronto boy, and he's just waiting at home for a contract offer right now.
 
You would think... although we got a 4th in 2011... which appears to be a horrible draft year. Still happy to get anything at all for him.
 
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