5 reasonable changes the Toronto Maple Leafs can make to right the ship

By Mary Clarke | Nov 20, 2019

UNIONDALE, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 13: John Tavares #91 and Zach Hyman #11 of the Toronto Maple Leafs prepare to go up against the New York Islanders during the first period at NYCB Live's Nassau Coliseum on November 13, 2019 in Uniondale, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

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(Photo by Justin Berl/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

2. Go out and sign a backup

Outside of the lack of offense and weak defense, Toronto’s goaltending has yet to help the team in any way. This season, starter Frederik Andersen has been league average with a .912 save percentage in 17 games played. The Maple Leafs’ backups, however, have not given their starter any help.

The Maple Leafs’ backup netminders this season have been Kasimir Kaskisuo and Michael Hutchinson, and the pair have a .861 save percentage combined in seven games played. Andersen might not be able to take the brunt of the season alone as he has in the past, and getting a reliable backup goaltender would help relieve some pressure off one of the team’s best players.

ESPN theorized that the Pittsburgh Penguins may have a backup netminder worth trading for, with either Casey DeSmith or Tristan Jarry fitting in well with the Toronto system. Goaltending is certainly at a premium this season with the amount of goals that have been scored before American Thanksgiving, but with 31 teams and a variety of AHL and ECHL teams, the possibility is there for the Maple Leafs to find someone a bit more reliable in net.

And they’ll likely have to. Andersen is on track to play 60 games again this season once again, a tough task for any netminder now with how taxing the league is. Should Andersen go down for injury for any length of time, Toronto will need a reliable backup to help shoulder some of the burden. Making an auxiliary trade for a backup netminder over the next few weeks would help out the team’s depth tremendously.

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