Will any Leafs' attempt to acquire Rick Nash and Jay Bouwmeester make Vesa Toskala a better option in net?
As my Sportsnet colleague Mike Brophy suggests, Rick Nash would make a lovely present under the Toronto Maple Leafs Christmas tree. My colleague's other "Hey Santa Burke" wish, Jay Bouwmeester, would also be welcomed in any gift wrapping Florida general manager Jacques Martin might be willing to select.
But if it were my call (and my call would be based on newly minted Leafs general manager Brian Burke saying at his welcoming day press conference that he builds his team from the goal out) I'd be Christmas shopping for a new goaltender.
It's not that Vesa Toskala isn't the answer; truth is on most nights he's pretty much the best player on the ice. The problem is that on more than a few other nights he's often the worst player on the ice.
If the goal is to someday win the Stanley Cup this trend must be addressed.
I'm not arguing that a Toskala move needs to be made today or even before Burke's self-imposed Christmas no-trade zone (beginning Dec. 9). I'd even argue having him stay on until the Leafs establish an identity and where they are likely to finish this season, but at some point down the road, if Burke follows his game plan, goaltending has to be the No. 1 issue.
From experience alone, Burke knows that. His coach, Ron Wilson, knows that. Anyone who has watched Toskala's total contribution in a Leafs uniform can at least suspect it.
He's good; but not Stanley Cup championships good.
Toskala's goals against average, including a solid effort Monday night in Los Angeles is 3.02,
Good enough for 34th on the NHL stats list. His save percentage a paltry .891, a not so good 38th place. But if teams are going to go big in this league and be a true Cup contender it can't have goaltending that's just good, it has to be great.
To be fair a big part of that coincides with the team in front of Toskala. Even though one might argue that Wilson is a defensive-minded coach and that the Leafs are making strides at getting better in that department a good goalie is often only as good as the rest of the team.
In that department, the Leafs aren't good at all.
Now understand I'm not whining about the 197-foot goal he let in against the Islanders or the occasional four-goals-on-nine shots night, I'm strictly pointing out that at 31-years-old and deep into his career Toskala remains a good-but-not-great goalie.
The Leafs had to know that truth when it swung the deal with San Jose. The Sharks at the time were a goaltending factory with Evgeni Nabokov, Miikka Kiprusoff and Toskala progressing through the ranks.
The team made a decision to trade-ff two of the names and stick with Nabokov, who may not even be the most talented of the trio but does seem to know how to win on a more consistent.
That's the name of the game in the goalie business: you don't always win the big game or even the big series, but if you win enough and you are consistent enough you will generally have the backing of your teammates and your organization. Support like that is needed when the going gets tough and the team looks to the last player as the one who is going to make a difference. Belief in the goaltender is paramount.
Say all you want about the contributions of Chris Pronger, Rob Niedermayer and Teemu but it was J.S. Giguere that was the difference in putting a Cup ring on Burke's finger in Anaheim. The Ducks knew it and the losing Ottawa Senators will never forget it.
Giguere led the Ducks to the final knowing the team could win. He had been consistently good since he emerged as an elite No.1 and each Ducks' player in front of him knew he would be that good again when it mattered. What member of the Senators felt the same about their chances given what they brought in goal?
With Burke as GM in Toronto that kind of thinking isn't outside the box. Teams win with great goaltending. You can have a good team -- which Burke someday hopes to build in Toronto -- but you can't have a great team unless you are solid from the goal out.
The problem is the hardest part of being a successful GM as teams with good goalies tend to keep them in town.
Look back over the last little while, in a short time we've seen free-agency ages lowered and players changing teams at a rapid rate -- where does it go with goaltending?
Martin Brodeur is a lifer with the New Jersey Devils because they pay him like one, treat him like one and build a team around his talents (which is a big part of the reason why he'll someday break Patrick Roy's record for wins).
A more recent example is Buffalo's Ryan Miller who was barely out of the young prospect stage when the Sabres signed him to a big money, long-term deal, a deal they refused to give to veteran free-agent -to-be forwards like Chris Drury and Daniel Briere and defenceman Brian Campbell.
They put their limited dollars where they thought it would do the most good.
It's simple: If you've got a good goalie, you lock him up, fast and for a long term and big money. If you've got two good ones you make a choice (because there are only so many dollars to go around) and try to get something for the one you don't keep before he goes all Cristobal Huet on you.
That's Burke's biggest problem right now and he has to know it.
Nash is nice while Bouwmeester is intriguing and they both fit the Burke pattern of big, tough and tenacious. But somewhere along the line Burke's Leafs will need the same thing that John Ferguson's Leafs needed and that Cliff Fletcher's Leafs twice needed and Pat Quinn's Leafs and Ken /Dryden's Leafs and Floyd Smith's Leafs and Jim Gregory's Leafs and even my other Sportsnet colleague, Gord Stellick's Leafs needed: A goaltender who can win when it matters most.
It doesn't have to be for Christmas. Any old holiday will do.
