Can the Toronto Maple Leafs stand pat in goal?
Jonas Siegel of The Athletic: This sounds like an unfathomable question. What if the Toronto Maple Leafs stood pat in goal? It is not a secret that Toronto has suffered from subpar goaltending since around American Thanksgiving.
Both Jack Campbell and Petr Mrazek have allowed some horrible goals. Then Erik Kallgren goes and makes it look easy. What does Kyle Dubas do?
The move for the sake of making a move argument is valid for once. Goaltending coach Steve Briere is teaching the goalies to pick their aggressive flashes. Goalies are being worked harder. Offense is being pushed harder too – it has been top-heavy. They need production to offset gaps in goaltending.
Now if Jake Muzzin returns early, that could change things. Maybe Toronto gets more cohesive and the goalies snap back along with the defense and offense. Honestly, that is a lot of questions and a huge ask.
Jake Allen Returning Right Before Trade Deadline
Marco D’Amico of Montreal Hockey NOW: It appears Jake Allen will return from injury right before the NHL Trade Deadline on Monday.
“There’s got to be interest in Jake Allen on the trade front,” said TSN Insider Darren Dreger on the Montreal Hockey Now Podcast last week. “Given the resume, the history of Jake Allen, any of these middling teams like Toronto or Edmonton, teams that don’t have the Cap space to go big game hunting. You can kick tires all day on Marc-André Fleury, that’s just managers doing their due diligence, but Jake Allen would make sense to me.”
Again, if Allen looks healthy, he will generate interest. He has one year left on his current deal at just $2.875 million. If Carey Price does return in April, Montreal has to consider making a trade. Allen played well before his injury under dire circumstances.
The goaltender has shown the ability to play well in pressure situations. That is what teams are looking for.