Leafs circling the wagons

The Maple Leafs have quietly put out feelers and investigated options for an upgrade at their backup goalie position over the past few weeks.
How serious those endeavours have been – and will be in the lead up to the Feb. 24 trade deadline – remains to be seen.

But what’s clear is Toronto has inquired multiple times this season about New York Rangers goaltender Alexandar Georgiev, a 23-year-old who has quickly gone from undrafted free agent in 2017 to a promising prospect at the NHL level.
To date, the Rangers’ asking price has been high. They want a quality young player who can play now, not a pick or a prospect, for the young Russian netminder.

The result is a bit of a stalemate, as the Leafs (and other suitors) haven’t been willing to meet that price for a goalie who has only started 60 NHL games.
Under normal circumstances, a rebuilding team like New York wouldn’t want to deal someone like Georgiev. But with 37-year-old franchise icon Henrik Lundqvist still with a year remaining on his contract, and prized prospect Igor Shesterkin putting up sparkling numbers in the AHL and NHL, the Rangers have been carrying three goaltenders closing in on nearly two weeks now.
It’s not a tenable situation long term. Carrying three goalies can be difficult logistically – even when it comes to practices, never mind finding enough starts in games.

And despite a run of strong play of late – and a solid .914 save percentage on the season – Georgiev is obviously the odd-man-out given Lundqvist’s stature in the organization and Shesterkin’s promise as a future No. 1.
Both teams have kept trade talks quiet, so specifics are somewhat lacking. But it’s believed that the Leafs are willing to part with futures – including someone like AHLer Jeremy Bracco – in order to land Georgiev. The Rangers, however, are asking for more established players, presumably, the likes of Leafs forwards Kasperi Kapanen, Andreas Johnsson or Alexander Kerfoot.

That’s going to be a no-go for Toronto, especially in a 1-for-1 scenario. While the Leafs would potentially move a forward like that to upgrade on their blue line in the coming weeks, it doesn’t make much sense for them to give up one of their primary trade chips for a goaltender who may only play a handful of games for them the rest of the season.
That said, there’s still plenty of time for the negotiation to expand to include more pieces, given the Leafs will probably be buying and the Rangers will likely be selling.

The Leafs definitely want to keep starter Frederik Andersen’s workload reasonable, but with few back-to-back games remaining on their schedule, it’s not out of the question he plays 28 of their remaining 34 games as they battle to lock down a playoff spot.
Backup Michael Hutchinson has struggled this season, without question. But he has played better of late, lessening the urgency to get Andersen immediate help.
Where adding Georgiev makes the most sense is as insurance for the future. The Leafs badly need an upgrade at the backup position next season and could also use an alternate option to giving Andersen a massive contract when he becomes a free agent at the end of 2020-21.
Given Toronto’s cap constraints, meeting Andersen’s asking price may not be wise. And he will be 32 years old by the start of the 2021-22 season, when a big new UFA deal would kick in.
It’s way early to try and forecast that Georgiev could replace Andersen, but he would at least give Toronto a viable option to fill some of the void in net if they opt not to re-sign their No. 1 of the past four seasons.
Georgiev is also gaining a reputation around the league as someone worth making an educated bet on.
“He’s intriguing,” said one executive with another team that is monitoring the situation.
What hurts Georgiev’s value for a lot of GMs is the pending Seattle expansion draft in the summer of 2021. Teams will only be permitted to protect one goaltender, which makes a young backup a luxury few clubs want to give up an established player for. Goalies could be in abundance on the trade market in advance of the expansion draft, too, as teams attempt to get assets for players they’d otherwise lose for nothing.
It’s also still unclear what Georgiev’s ceiling is, especially compared to players like Kapanen and Johnsson, who both had 20 goals last season and have spent a lot of time playing in Toronto’s top six the past two years.

My guess is that the Rangers struggle to get anyone to meet their current asking price, which will leave them contemplating either carrying three goalies the rest of the season or accepting more of a futures package.
If they alter their asking price in the coming weeks, Toronto becomes a much more likely destination.
If a potential deal doesn’t subtract from their current roster, the Leafs may well bite on an upgrade at a position that’s been an unwelcome headache the last two seasons.