Varlamov seemed like a good option to me. Same AAV that Campbell signed for but only a 1-year commitment. The Leafs spent almost as much cap hit on Murray. Varlamov lost the #1 spot to Sorokin, so you'd think the Islanders wouldn't want to pay $5M for a backup on an expiring contract, but he still played well enough to be a #1. I'm really surprised they didn't trade him. Maybe they tried, and maybe the Leafs tried to get him, but they couldn't agree on a price.

I hope I'm wrong about Samsonov, but whenever I think about a goalie who had a great rookie year and couldn't follow it up, Andrew Raycroft always comes to mind. At least they didn't trade a future star who's going to knock them out of the playoffs a couple of times for Samsonov. It was a pretty low risk acquisition.

Pretty excited in general to watch the goaltending duo as honestly its almost a mirror image of what we were projecting out of the Campbell/Mrazek tandem.

Now is there risk with them yes but the upside both these guys have is a gamble you gotta take. And even if both dont do great a year of Murray is easier to move on from vs. 5 years of Campbell. Going back to Campbell I know people are upset but imagine we sign him to that deal and uh oh he is Dec-March campbell all over again fans would be pissed. Or heck lets say we signed Kuemper or traded for Gibson and neither of those guys did well. Leafs would be stuck with a big fat anchor of a deal for 4+ years and that wouldnt be great. Still laugh at the fact we finished 4th in the NHL with 4 months of 0.893 goaltending. Like we had to have Kallgren come in and be the Messiah for us at one point. So even if Murray and Samsonov finish with a 0.905 and 0.902 watch the Leafs finish first in the Atlantic or something crazy like that

Now moving to the goalies

Sammy is 25 and goalies usually dont peak until 28 so hes got time. If he rebounds Leafs got a young starter for years to come and thats something this franchise needs to build on and has missed out on for a long time. Had a bad year with Washington but is young and has the toolset to be good.

Murray to me is fascinating. I just dont think Ottawa was a fit and he heavily hinted at that in his Hi Toronto interview. If this guy can rebound or heck just give average goaltending Leafs are set. And if in the playoffs we can get the Murray of old oh man were in for some fun as this is a guy that can save a game 7 series. Plus paid nothing to get him and got some assets would I have liked more yes but it was pretty evident to bring in a third team would have meant giving up something big for them to get involved and that really doesnt make a lot of sense.

I want to be hopeful that Murray is at least going to be average for the Leafs but... the fear of him just not being good enough to be any type of NHL quality goaltender is quite high for me.

At least Samsonov is young and can rebound but I'm really wondering what Dubas was thinking last off-season and this off-season goaltending wise.

Remember Leafs finished 4th in the NHL with both goalies having a 0.893 avg for 4 months. Only need one of the goalies to rebound for better results.

Our med staff have performed miracles and honestly seeing Murray in 20 game produce better numbers than Mrazek in Ottawa shows hes still got it but needs to stay healthy. As if it wasnt for Zaitsev Murray potentially could have had a 0.915 in 40 games for OTT

Honestly feel were in for a pleasant surprise with both guys and whats really good by the time Murray is up 2 incredible goalies are sitting there available

Ilya Sorokin
Connor Hellybuyck