Rumor: Maple Leafs will make a goaltending change this summer.

It seems that the Toronto Maple Leafs are destined for a change in goal this summer.

There have been question regarding the heavy, heavy burden the Toronto Maple Leafs have placed on starting netminder Frederik Andersen ever since he joined the organization. Andersen has taken on a major workload in each of his 3 seasons with the Maple Leafs and you have to imagine that this has impacted his ability to maintain a consistent performance througout a full season and playoffs. In his first season he appeared in 66 games, followed by another 66 games in the next season, followed by 60 last season.

Keeping that in mind it seems obvious that the Toronto Maple Leafs will look for an upgrade at their back up position and now one of the National Hockey League's premiere insiders is reporting that the team may in fact be looking to do exactly that. In a recent report for The Athletic TSN National Hockey League insider Pierre LeBrun revealed that the Maple Leafs have been actively shopping one of their goaltenders. Now there's no need to hit the panic button, the Maple Leafs are not going to be dealing Andersen, but rather it appears it is backup goaltender Garret Sparks that the Maple Leafs and Leafs' general manager Kyle Dubas have put on the chopping block.\

From LeBrun:

The Leafs are calling teams asking them about their interest in Garret Sparks, 25, who has one more year left on his deal at $750,000. They need better support for Frederik Andersen whose work load is always a hot topic.

Unfortunately LeBrun has not provided any details regarding who the Toronto Maple Leafs might be targeting as a potential replacement for Sparks, assuming they can find a trade for the veteran backup, and their salary cap situation only further complicates that situation for Dubad and the Leafs. You have to imagine that the team now has some serious regret about allowing veteran backup Curtis McElhinney to be claimed on waivers prior to the start of the 2018 - 2019 National Hockey League regular season given just how admirably he performed for the Carolina Hurricanes who claimed him off waivers. 

Only time will tell which direction the Leafs go in on this one.