The Trade Deadline and the Goalie Issue

[Kin]

If there's one thing people tend to say about Dominik Hasek it's how ordinary a goalie he was and how typical a career he had.

 

[hockeyfan1]

I would like to see Reimer stay a Leaf.  If they can work out a a contract with low cap hit and a low term, then it'd be worth keeping Reimer onboard.  He'd still be a serviceable goaltender this way while the youngsters will eventually be given the. opportunity to begin their ascendancy on the big club.

 

[disco]

Yeah I like Reimer, having a great season apart from the injury. Super numbers. Apparently he's been working on tracking the puck and I think he's even improved. But does he factor in long-term? Probably not. He deserves Bernier's contract, around $4.5, but I don't think he'll get it.

Lou and Babs will just keep doing what they're doing: pump the tires up and then maximize the return in picks/prospects. Who knows what this team will look like next year, after the deadline and the summer. Or 3 years.

What is fun is that we have something to talk about: a competent rebuild through the draft by experienced management, rather than the annual tradition of miss playoffs/sign and re-sign at inflated prices. Repeat. JFJ. Burke. Nonis.

 

[Kaberle15]

If Reimer is ok in sign a 2 year deal or a 1 year deal would be better for the Leafs.

 

[Boston Leaf]

Reimer has never started more than 35 or so games in any given season. I worry about his durability based on his past, and his consistency as he hasn't strung enough strong play together to trust his numbers this season. I may be wrong, but I just don't think he's the answer. Especially if he gets $4-5 M/season.

This is sort of what I have been thinking.. his play as of late has been dropping off a bit. Is it because he reached his max of games? Not sure..

 

[herman]

Reimer has never started more than 35 or so games in any given season. I worry about his durability based on his past, and his consistency as he hasn't strung enough strong play together to trust his numbers this season. I may be wrong, but I just don't think he's the answer. Especially if he gets $4-5 M/season.

This is sort of what I have been thinking.. his play as of late has been dropping off a bit. Is it because he reached his max of games? Not sure..

Have you seen the Tank team in front of him as of late?

 

[bustaheims]

Reimer's had a rough week and a half, behind an expansion level roster. Before that, his play was mostly exceptional. I wouldn't read much into these last few games outside of him possibly being in a bit of a slump - which can happen to even the best goalies in the world - and playing behind a poor roster that's running out of steam/not catching teams off-guard anymore.

 

[Kin]

Reimer's had a rough week and a half, behind an expansion level roster. Before that, his play was mostly exceptional. I wouldn't read much into these last few games outside of him possibly being in a bit of a slump - which can happen to even the best goalies in the world - and playing behind a poor roster that's running out of steam/not catching teams off-guard anymore.

All of that's true but it's also pretty reasonable to have assumed that his play was going to level off at some point, especially as the season wore on.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Reimer's had a rough week and a half, behind an expansion level roster. Before that, his play was mostly exceptional. I wouldn't read much into these last few games outside of him possibly being in a bit of a slump - which can happen to even the best goalies in the world - and playing behind a poor roster that's running out of steam/not catching teams off-guard anymore.

At the same time though I don't think anyone thought he'd keep up a .930 save percentage all season long.

 

[bustaheims]

All of that's true but it's also pretty reasonable to have assumed that his play was going to level off at some point, especially as the season wore on.

Level off, sure. I just don't buy the suggestion that he's hit a wall because of games played.

 

[Kin]

Level off, sure. I just don't buy the suggestion that he's hit a wall because of games played.

We may be verging on getting into Semantics but I think you'd agree that the single biggest thing that separates a championship quality #1 goaltender and someone who isn't that isn't the ability to put up a .920 save percentage, it's to put up a .920 save percentage playing in 55+ games in a year.

I'm not going to say Reimer has "hit a wall" but I have no problem saying that I'll believe Reimer can do that over the course of a season by seeing him do it.

 

[LuncheonMeat]

All of that's true but it's also pretty reasonable to have assumed that his play was going to level off at some point, especially as the season wore on.

Level off, sure. I just don't buy the suggestion that he's hit a wall because of games played.

These guys are well-conditioned athletes and likely never would have made it this far if they hit a wall at 35 games. My worry about him is related more to his injury history.  My heart wants to see him be this great goalie for the Leafs, but my gut questions whether he can stay healthy enough to play 60 or so games in a season. If he can't, he's probably not the best long-term fit.

If I were the GM, and you should thank the sweet baby Jesus that I'm not, I would trade him now while his value, and his numbers, are pretty good.

EDIT: Or what Nik said.

 

[Highlander]

Perhaps if we get the Pylon back his save percentage would rise up again??

 

[freer]

Perhaps if we get the Pylon back his save percentage would rise up again??

Whether not you liked Dion or not, he was the best defensemen we had this year.

 

[Highlander]

Outside of Rielly and Gardiner I would agree. The funny thing is as bad as Phanuef looked like on TV, when I attended the Leaf games in Orlando and AZ, Phaneuf was hitting and hard and looked good.
I actually like the guy and wish him the best.

 

[Al14]

Outside of Rielly and Gardiner I would agree. The funny thing is as bad as Phanuef looked like on TV, when I attended the Leaf games in Orlando and AZ, Phaneuf was hitting and hard and looked good.
I actually like the guy and wish him the best.

I liked Phaneuf too.  I just really disliked his salary, big time.  Phaneuf at $5.0M would be about right in my mind.

As for the goalie issues, I'd trade Bernier for the best offer I could get.  For me, he's too small for an NHL goalie today.  He might have been a decent goalie 30 years ago, but now, with today's shooters, and, high tech hockey sticks, the pucks are blown by him with ease.  IMHO, you need a larger goalie that can cover more of the net and actually get a piece of the puck enough to deflect it away from the net.  So many pucks appear to go right through him for goals it seems.

If management is really tanking, they should trade Reimer too.  If not, they should retain him and try to sign him to an extension.

 

[LuncheonMeat]

Outside of Rielly and Gardiner I would agree. The funny thing is as bad as Phanuef looked like on TV, when I attended the Leaf games in Orlando and AZ, Phaneuf was hitting and hard and looked good.
I actually like the guy and wish him the best.

I liked Phaneuf too.  I just really disliked his salary, big time.  Phaneuf at $5.0M would be about right in my mind.

As for the goalie issues, I'd trade Bernier for the best offer I could get.  For me, he's too small for an NHL goalie today.  He might have been a decent goalie 30 years ago, but now, with today's shooters, and, high tech hockey sticks, the pucks are blown by him with ease.  IMHO, you need a larger goalie that can cover more of the net and actually get a piece of the puck enough to deflect it away from the net.

I wonder if that's the case, though, if the NHL makes a move to smaller, tighter fitting goalie equipment. Some of these bigger guys may have trouble when they can't simply close all the holes. Pure speculation on my part, though.

 

[Kin]

As for the goalie issues, I'd trade Bernier for the best offer I could get.  For me, he's too small for an NHL goalie today.  He might have been a decent goalie 30 years ago, but now, with today's shooters, and, high tech hockey sticks, the pucks are blown by him with ease.  IMHO, you need a larger goalie that can cover more of the net and actually get a piece of the puck enough to deflect it away from the net.  So many pucks appear to go right through him for goals it seems.

You really think it's the inch of height that separates him from guys like Lundqvist and Quick that's the problem?

 

[Al14]

Outside of Rielly and Gardiner I would agree. The funny thing is as bad as Phanuef looked like on TV, when I attended the Leaf games in Orlando and AZ, Phaneuf was hitting and hard and looked good.
I actually like the guy and wish him the best.

I liked Phaneuf too.  I just really disliked his salary, big time.  Phaneuf at $5.0M would be about right in my mind.

As for the goalie issues, I'd trade Bernier for the best offer I could get.  For me, he's too small for an NHL goalie today.  He might have been a decent goalie 30 years ago, but now, with today's shooters, and, high tech hockey sticks, the pucks are blown by him with ease.  IMHO, you need a larger goalie that can cover more of the net and actually get a piece of the puck enough to deflect it away from the net.

I wonder if that's the case, though, if the NHL makes a move to smaller, tighter fitting goalie equipment. Some of these bigger guys may have trouble when they can't simply close all the holes. Pure speculation on my part, though.

IMHO, smaller, tighter fitting goalie equipment will make Bernier look even worse.  We'll see I guess.

 

[Al14]

As for the goalie issues, I'd trade Bernier for the best offer I could get.  For me, he's too small for an NHL goalie today.  He might have been a decent goalie 30 years ago, but now, with today's shooters, and, high tech hockey sticks, the pucks are blown by him with ease.  IMHO, you need a larger goalie that can cover more of the net and actually get a piece of the puck enough to deflect it away from the net.  So many pucks appear to go right through him for goals it seems.

You really think it's the inch of height that separates him from guys like Lundqvist and Quick that are the problem?

I think he's smaller in overall size than both of them. He's a bean pole in street clothes!