The fears of leaf fans during the summer are coming to pass, Reimer has gone down to injury and the backup goaltending has broken down. Now some may argue that it’s not just the goalies; the forwards aren’t scoring, the defense has been poor. While this may be true the game last night was a prime example of goaltending being a let down. Its 1-0 early in the first while the Leafs had a poor first period they seem to be gaining momentum in the 2nd suddenly Monster loses control of the puck behind the net then proceeds to slowly get back into , Florida scores. The next shot they score again, now the leafs are down 3-0 and they become deflated despite dominating for the better part of the rest of the game they never get back into it.
So what are the options to try and improve the goaltending? There are a few options; first bring in a free agent, second trade for a good backup, or try and ride Scrivens until Reimer is healthy. According to Cap Geek the Leafs have 1.175 million in cap space would this be enough to draw a free agent goalie like Marty Turco. Bringing in a goalie could create problems once Reimer is healthy with 3 goalies, however the Monster experiment may be over and therefore it may not be an issue to put him on waivers if it is necessary to improve goaltending.
A trade could also be a possibility the depth at defense and bottom 6 forwards could allow the Leafs to acquire a solid backup goalie, the Leafs could also try and go for a goalie like Bernier or Schneider though this would cost quite a bit more.
Finally keep the team they have and ride Ben Scrivens, while I do not think this is the best option (I believe Ben needs more time in the AHL) he certainly has the talent to play at the NHL level depending on how long Reimer is expected to be out keeping the status quo may be the route the Leafs go.
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