Goaltending conundrum

[sickbeast]

With Gus gone we now have 1/2 of our already terrible goaltending talent.  Burke is crazy.  Maybe he's trying to tank this season.

 

[jonlleafs]

With Gus gone we now have 1/2 of our already terrible goaltending talent.  Burke is crazy.  Maybe he's trying to tank this season.

Hey like someone previously said "Not Winnin' for McKinnon"

 

[armche123]

With Gus gone we now have 1/2 of our already terrible goaltending talent.  Burke is crazy.  Maybe he's trying to tank this season.

I love how 'almost all' your posts indicate some sort of firing of Burkie... Just an observation. At least your demands are consistent.

 

[OldTimeHockey]

3 or 4 years of playoff experience for our young roster.  Luongo is a no brainer to me, what we give up I don't know, but our kids are now 24-26 versus 20-24 they need experience on how to win.

I still don't see how adding a 34 year old goalie with 74 years left on his contract is a 'no brainer'.

Could it work...sure...But I'm sorry, when you're giving up your top 2 or 3 twenty year olds, you're stuck with a group of 24-26 year olds that are 2nd liners at best and once again, no goalie with any starting experience.

I might be speaking out of turn, but I believe people think Luongo is a 'no brainer' if getting him does not involve gutting the team by sending any number of top young players or first round picks.

Right now, given what Gillis is supposedly asking for, Luongo is not a 'no brainer'. He becomes one when the price comes down significantly.

What's the right price? There's the rub......

Not exactly true. I've read some say that 'as long as it doesn't require giving up a 1st round draft pick'..it should be a done deal.

 

[OldTimeHockey]

Nothing is, but (setting aside all other considerations for the moment) who gives us a better chance: Luongo vs. Reimer, or Luongo vs. Scrivens, or Luongo vs. anybody else out there who's available?

And seriously -- what's wrong with Luongo's play lately?  Not much that I can see.  He's a helluva long way from dropping off the table.

I think it's great that Leaf fans have gone back to 'making the playoffs is good enough' mentality..because in reality, the best Luongo does for this team is improve them enough to slip into the 8th place. That gets the team an automatic thrashing in the 1st round by the Philly's, Pittsburgh's or Boston's of the league and a 15th or 16th overall draft pick.

So I ask you, how in god's green earth, does this help the Leafs get better?

Leaf fans have to quit looking for fixes that help the team get marginally better, and realize that the only way to get fully better is to build from within. When Toronto gets closer to fully contending, and they're maybe a move or two away, that's when you start giving up future's for the present.....The Leafs are so far away from that right now, it makes absolutely zero sense.

I'm hearing Huet wants to come back to the NHL.....perhaps that's the right move.

 

[OldTimeHockey]

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/07/31/nhl-notes-huet-wants-nhl-return

 

[Kin]

37 and had a .895 SV% the last time he was in the league? Yeah, I'll pass.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

I also think trading for Luongo is questionable just flat out in terms of whether or not he's playing well enough right now to provide what the team is looking for. People seem to assume that the Leafs + Luongo would just naturally equal a playoff team but I don't know if I'm 100% on that. He'd probably be better than Reimer but this was the 5th worst team in the league last year. I don't know if Luongo is a guy to singlehandedly make that difference.

Yeah. In 07-08, he put up the kind of numbers we can probably reasonably expect him to put up here next season, and it didn't get the Nyucks into the playoffs. They might get closer with Luongo (and, even that's only a maybe), but, it's hardly a foregone conclusion.

It's likely to be different next season, but last season at least, some of the advanced stats guys calculated that with even league-average goaltending the Leafs could have made the playoffs with the sh% they had.  That's how poor the goaltending was.

EDIT: Here it is - http://theleafsnation.com/2012/4/3/with-average-goaltending-the-leafs-would-have-made-the-playoffs

 

[OldTimeHockey]

37 and had a .895 SV% the last time he was in the league? Yeah, I'll pass.

No doubt...Just saying is all.

 

[Knobby]

It seems safe to say that we are split on Luongo as a Leaf. Just wondering if the Leafs go with Reimer / Scrivens next year and miss the playoffs again, are the people who don't want Luongo going to bitch that Burke should be fired? And who will be available to play goal the following season if Reimer / Scrivens fail to meet expectations? Guaranteed Luongo won't be available at that point. Belfour was older than Luongo when he came to the Leafs.

 

[Jalili]

Nothing is, but (setting aside all other considerations for the moment) who gives us a better chance: Luongo vs. Reimer, or Luongo vs. Scrivens, or Luongo vs. anybody else out there who's available?

And seriously -- what's wrong with Luongo's play lately?  Not much that I can see.  He's a helluva long way from dropping off the table.

I think it's great that Leaf fans have gone back to 'making the playoffs is good enough' mentality..because in reality, the best Luongo does for this team is improve them enough to slip into the 8th place. That gets the team an automatic thrashing in the 1st round by the Philly's, Pittsburgh's or Boston's of the league and a 15th or 16th overall draft pick.

So I ask you, how in god's green earth, does this help the Leafs get better?

Leaf fans have to quit looking for fixes that help the team get marginally better, and realize that the only way to get fully better is to build from within. When Toronto gets closer to fully contending, and they're maybe a move or two away, that's when you start giving up future's for the present.....The Leafs are so far away from that right now, it makes absolutely zero sense.

I'm hearing Huet wants to come back to the NHL.....perhaps that's the right move.

Making the playoffs in any capacity is actually kind of a big deal. I know there's more to your post than that, but it has to be said.

 

[Tigger]

Largely I don't want to see Luongo in Toronto because of his contract and trading any assets to get that contract, especially with the current uncertainty surrounding his potential status after the CBA negotiations. If those issues were cleared up, I'd probably be ok with getting him, though he's not at the top of my list by far.

I don't mind the thought of the Leafs making the playoffs, you can still build a team if you don't get a lottery pick. Getting marginally better every year is fine as long as it's leading to something bigger, it won't be an over night exercise.

 

[OldTimeHockey]

It seems safe to say that we are split on Luongo as a Leaf. Just wondering if the Leafs go with Reimer / Scrivens next year and miss the playoffs again, are the people who don't want Luongo going to witch that Burke should be fired? And who will be available to play goal the following season if Reimer / Scrivens fail to meet expectations? Guaranteed Luongo won't be available at that point. Belfour was older than Luongo when he came to the Leafs.

I never said I didn't want Luongo...just that I didn't want to gut what the team has built in the last couple years to get him.

Belfour is a different story. He signed as a UFA.

 

[OldTimeHockey]

I don't mind the thought of the Leafs making the playoffs, you can still build a team if you don't get a lottery pick. Getting marginally better every year is fine as long as it's leading to something bigger, it won't be an over night exercise.

Well obviously I don't mind the Leafs making the playoffs but I'm not a fan of doing something drastic just to squeak in.

 

[Tigger]

I'm not a fan of doing something drastic just to squeak in.

Me neither, building from within and generating experience is fine by me, if they don't make it next year I won't be surprised ( I would be disappointed ) but as long as the roster is getting better I'll probably be ok with it.

 

[Kin]

Just wondering if the Leafs go with Reimer / Scrivens next year and miss the playoffs again, are the people who don't want Luongo going to witch that Burke should be fired?

There'd be no inherent contradiction there. It's not like goaltending is the only issue with the team.

 

[KW Sluggo]

Somewhere T read recently a suggestion that we go after Huet. The claim was that his last NHL numbers were not that bad and his Swiss numbers  were decent.

I realize that it is the Swiss league but now that Huet has announced that he is seeking to return to the NHL should we give him a try?

It would be a low risk, low cost move to get a veteran goalie.

Just asking....

 

[OldTimeHockey]

Somewhere T read recently a suggestion that we go after Huet. The claim was that his last NHL numbers were not that bad and his Swiss numbers  were decent.

I realize that it is the Swiss league but now that Huet has announced that he is seeking to return to the NHL should we give him a try?

It would be a low risk, low cost move to get a veteran goalie.

Just asking....

Like Nik said on the last page:

Huet is 37 and the last time he was in the league his SV% was .895.

 

[Tigger]

If you had to choose between Scrivens or Huet to fill the back up role, is there really much thinking necessary to make the choice?

 

[ZBBM]

Nothing is, but (setting aside all other considerations for the moment) who gives us a better chance: Luongo vs. Reimer, or Luongo vs. Scrivens, or Luongo vs. anybody else out there who's available?

And seriously -- what's wrong with Luongo's play lately?  Not much that I can see.  He's a helluva long way from dropping off the table.

I think it's great that Leaf fans have gone back to 'making the playoffs is good enough' mentality..because in reality, the best Luongo does for this team is improve them enough to slip into the 8th place. That gets the team an automatic thrashing in the 1st round by the Philly's, Pittsburgh's or Boston's of the league and a 15th or 16th overall draft pick.

So I ask you, how in god's green earth, does this help the Leafs get better?

Leaf fans have to quit looking for fixes that help the team get marginally better, and realize that the only way to get fully better is to build from within. When Toronto gets closer to fully contending, and they're maybe a move or two away, that's when you start giving up future's for the present.....The Leafs are so far away from that right now, it makes absolutely zero sense.

I'm hearing Huet wants to come back to the NHL.....perhaps that's the right move.

You don't want Luongo. You want Huet instead. Check.

What a joke this whole thread has become. "Oh maybe when we are closer to contending" blah blah blah. News flash: that day may never come unless we get good goaltending now.

But hey, by all means keep dreaming up reasons why we shouldnt acquire a top notch goalie. Cripes if Gillis could somehow give us Luongo AND pay his salary some of you still wouldn't want him.