The Leafs were accused of having monstrous goaltending at times this past season, but that term could take on a more positive meaning next year if Leafs GM Brian Burke gets his way.
Goaltender Jonas Gustavsson, nicknamed "the monster" by his coach, had a stellar championship year in the Swedish Elite League and the 24-year free agent goalie has drawn a lot of interest from NHL teams. Toronto and Dallas are believed to be the front-runners for his services with the Leafs apparently having an edge.
The Toronto Sun notes that Burke is not discouraged by Gustavsson's 4.90 GAA and .873 SV% after one start and a relief appearance at the World Championships taking place now in Switzerland.
"He played well, despite allowing the five goals," said the GM, referring to Sweden's 6-5 win over the U.S a few days ago.
The goalie turned aside 39 shots in that game and he drew absolutely rave reviews from Ron Wilson, who is coaching Team USA and who just also might become Gustavsson's NHL coach.
"You would never have seen a U.S. team dominate a Swedish team like we did for 50 minutes," coach Ron Wilson told USA Today by telephone. "Their goalie was unbelievable. How many games do you see a goalie get the best player's award when he gave up five goals?
"In the first 10 minutes of the third period, we were pouring right at them," Wilson marvelled. "There were times that we couldn't believe (Gustavsson) made the saves."
Gustavsson will be eligible to sign with any NHL team once the World Championships are over.
In Toronto, Vesa Toskala will turn 32 in three weeks and he has one more season left on his contract before he'll be a UFA. That would allow Gustavsson a season to acclimate to the North America game, while also providing him a chance to seize the number one job now (which he wants) or in a year.
Gustavsson's arrival would also cloud Justin Pogge's future. The Alberta-born goalie has spent three seasons in the AHL and at some point he'll have to make the jump to the NHL as a back-up. He doesn't necessarily have to be finished in Toronto if Gustavsson signs though, since another year of seasoning in the AHL wouldn't be the end of the world for Pogge. He could then theoretically back-up Gustavsson in '10-11 if Gustavsson were to outperform Toskala, although in that scenario Toskala could be dealt in the second half of next season so the Leafs get something for him... rather than risk losing him for nadda in the summer. That would give Pogge some more NHL action down the stretch, depending on whether or not the Leafs were in a playoff race.
One step at a time though, obviously. Let's see what Gustavsson does in the NHL first.
In Dallas, Turco is going to be 34 this summer and like Toskala has one year left on his current contract before becoming a UFA. Dallas, despite what this past season would indicate, offers a much more goalie-friendly environment than does Toronto right now and the Stars would no doubt love nothing more than to finally get Turco plenty of rest.
Gustavsson's poolie value would be helped by signing with Dallas initially because even though he'd potentially see fewer starts than in Toronto for '09-10, his peripherals would likely be much more fantasy-friendly playing behind a Stars team that might actually be healthy this time around. The Leafs are definitely moving in the right direction as a franchise, but there's a lot of work left to be done. Gustavsson could be a piece of the puzzle, but to expect fantasy-worthy numbers off the bat would be a bit much as the team looks now.
Either way, we should know more on the Gustavsson front soon.
WHAT'S IN A NAME?
Tomorrow we'll see the Capitals/ Penguins series get underway, which should have the makings of an instant post-season classic. One of the compelling stories of these playoffs has been rookie goaltender Simeon Varlamov, who is sporting a 4-2 mark with two shutouts and 1.17/ .952 splits.
You've no doubt seen how he asked that his last name be pronounced correctly (Var-LAHM-ov) in the media.
Fair enough.
An AP article today notes that he's also going to take it one step further next season with the official Caps media guide when it comes to his first name, which is also apparently being butchered.
"I will change the spelling," the Washington Capitals goaltender, speaking through an interpreter, said Thursday after practice. He'll go with "Simyon" in the official Caps media guide next season. "And I also want to tell you guys to accent it properly. It's not 'SIM-e-un.' It's 'Sim-YOHN.'"
Hey, keep posting playoff wins and shutouts and they'll call you whatever you want.
JAGR TO EDMONTON?
While 37-year-old Czech superstar Jaromir Jagr plans to play out the final year of his contract with Avangard Omsk of the Continental Hockey League next season, the Canadian Press says he hasn't ruled out a return to the NHL in the future.
And if he does decide to go back to North America, he'd love to play for the team that tried to arrange a transfer for him this year.
"I was pretty excited when I heard that Edmonton pushed pretty hard for me to get (there)," Jagr said Thursday at the IIHF World Hockey Championship. "I really appreciate it.
"If I ever go to (the NHL), they would be my No. 1 pick because they showed the interest first. I never forget that and I respect that."
There would certainly be poolie interest were Jagr to come back to the NHL, although his days of being a consistently dominant player are probably behind him. That doesn't mean he can't still be an effective threat, even if he won't likely be worthy of an early draft pick like he has been in the past.
If, when his KHL contract runs out, he does decide to head back to North America for a season or two you can bet there'll also be plenty of speculation about a return engagement with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Skating on the wing with Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin would have to be so enticing and even a senior Jagr loading up with Crosby and Malkin on L1 for stretches would be worth the price of admission alone.
Tonight's live blogging schedule features the openers for the Ducks/ Wings (Brian Rafalski is out now with an upper-body injury) and the Canes/ Bruins. The fun gets underway at 7pm ET.
Saturday's first game is at 1pm ET with the Pens/ Caps, followed by the Hawks/ Canucks at 9pm ET.