Many backup goalie options available to Maple Leafs

On Tuesday, the Toronto Maple Leafs called up goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo from the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. The move took place after the Leafs placed goaltender Michael Hutchinson on waivers Monday. This obviously left a hole in the team’s backup goaltending position, but the hope is that Kaskisuo can step in and give it a shot.

However, it also prompted many to believe that Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas would go out onto the trade market and acquire a veteran backup goalie to bring to Toronto.

The TSN Insider Trading panel explained on Tuesday night that despite the desires from the fanbase to get better experience in better the pipes, the Leafs are quite comfortable with waiting things out and seeing how well Kaskisuo does in front of the net. 

However, there are options out there for the Maple Leafs if ever they need to react quickly and acquire help for Frederik Andersen. Elliotte Friedman dressed an interesting list of available options for Dubas in his latest 31 Thoughts column on Sportsnet on Wednesday: 

“The Maple Leafs appear less worried than everyone else about the position. They didn’t win any of Michael Hutchinson’s starts, but don’t appear hell-bent on chasing outside the organization. They passed on Louis Domingue at least twice, once on waivers and once as a trade target. One obvious play would be Arizona’s Eric Comrie, with the same cap hit as Hutchinson, albeit one more year. But I can find no evidence Toronto’s inquired. Others who make financial sense are Minnesota’s Alex Stalock  ($785,000 for two more seasons) or the Pittsburgh duo of Tristan Jarry  ($675,000 this year and an RFA) or Casey DeSmith  (his $1.25 million for the next two seasons might be too pricey).

A lot of this uncertainty goes back to Michal Neuvirth, who had a great opportunity to snare the role in camp. But he was hurt and didn’t seem to have his heart in it.”

It’s not because the Leafs are willing to trust Kaskisuo for now that they won’t look into options right away if that plan fails. 

We could have a move after all coming soon to Toronto.