To say the least, goalies are very tough to pin down in terms of career projections and almost none of them make an immediate impact at the NHL level. If you draft one it’s understood that you have taken on a project. Take Joseph Woll for example, who was selected in the 3rd round of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, the same year as Auston Matthews. Since then Matthews has over 600 games and 700pts accredited to his NHL resume, while Woll is inching towards 80 regular season games played and 14 playoff performances. He has yet to establish himself as a bonafide NHL starting goaltender, but overall his career so far, considering his injury history, has been relatively successful. He’s about to enter into year 1 of a new 3 year, $11M deal and if all goes well he’ll be labeled a legitimate starting goalie after that and will earn himself an even bigger contract next time around.
He’ll be 27 years old by the time next season begins.
Now, of course there are players who hit the NHL much quicker, such as Dustin Wolf, Yaroslav Askarov and Spencer Knight, but in general, starting goaltenders aren’t leading their teams into the playoffs as teenagers or when they’re in their early 20’s. It’s just the nature of the position.
This is also a great time to plug Dennis Hildeby, who has earned himself a few games in the NHL already and is just 23 years old. It’s far too early to give up on a player such as him, even if his brief time in the NHL wasn’t the greatest. He’s an above average goalie prospect.
But I digress. With all of that in mind, we’ll spend just a small dose of time talking about goaltenders, because very few are even drafted regularly to begin with and picking one is generally considered akin to buying a lottery ticket.
Jack Ivankovic
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 180lbs
Shoots: Left
Junior Team: Brampton Steelheads, OHL
Jack Ivankovic is a positionally sound goaltender that has excellent rebound control and moves well in his crease. He rarely loses his net, which is imperative for a goalie of his size, as it’s harder to recover once you’re out of position as opposed to the typical 6’5″ goaltenders that NHL teams generally prefer these days. He’s also a very calm goalie that doesn’t wilt when the game gets tough. Instead, he rises to the occasion and seemingly plays better as the pressure mounts. The biggest knock on him has everything to do with his size, as he’s especially susceptible to screens and that will only get tougher as he moves into the pro ranks and faces pro sized opposition. If he can figure out how to see the puck consistently and has a team in front of him that is less run-and-gun and more defense first, then there’s nothing stopping him from enjoying a long NHL career.
Pyotr Andreyanov
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 207lbs
Shoots: Left
Junior Team: Krasnaya Armiya Moskva, MHL
If the same Leafs scouts that recommended they take Timofei Obvintsev in the 2024 draft are still watching that pick, they may suggest that Andreyanov is worth taking in this draft, considering he leapfrogged Obvintsev for the starting position on their MHL team this season. With a 1.75GAA and 0.943SV% through 37 games, Andreyanov’s numbers really jump off the page. He’s an extremely athletic goaltender, with fantastic reflexes and puck tracking abilities. It’s those same attributes that can get him in trouble at times though, as sometimes he overcommits and finds himself out of position. If he can calm his game a little and work on his glove hand, he’ll be a fantastic pick in the 2nd round.
Semyon Frolov
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 200lbs
Shoots: Left
Junior Team: MHK Spartak Moskva, MHL
Frolov is a positionally sound goaltender with solid athleticism and good size. His puck tracking skills are above average, as is his ability to perform under pressure. Essentially he just needs to further develop the skills that he already has, while also making himself look bigger in the net. He drops into the butterfly too early, leaving the top of the net exposed and his puck handling skills need a lot of work.
Alexei Medvedev
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 180lbs
Shoots: Left
Junior Team: London Knights, OHL
The Leafs will have had eyes on Medvedev a lot this year as well, considering they invited his goalie partner, Austin Elliott, to camp. The young goalie is expected to have a larger role with the Knights next year, which should help his development in a big way. Medvedev is a very athletic goaltender, with great side-to-side movement and fantastic reads. His puck handling skills are ranked as the best in this years draft class as well, as he can create breakouts on his own via strong, accurate passes, which is something of a lost art among goalies in todays NHL. While many have him going in the mid to late 2nd round, with others have him slipping to the 3rd round, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a team step up to take him off the board much earlier than that. Joshua Ravensbergen is the top ranked goaltender in this years draft (not covered here, as he is expected to go in the late 1st to early 2nd), but there are whispers that, as far as goalies go, this could be the Medvedev draft. With little to talk about in terms of real weakness, he only needs to get bigger, stronger and more consistent to be a legitimate NHL goaltender in the future in some capacity.
With Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll plying their trades in the NHL, Dennis Hildeby and Artur Akhtyamov developing nicely in the AHL and Austin Elliott possibly joining the organization as another goalie of the future, some may scoff at the idea of adding another goalie with an early pick this year. However, great teams are truly built from the net out, so it’s never a bad idea to keep the pipeline stocked with goaltending prospects. Also, while the team has drafted some goalies over the past few years, we can already look at a few and determine that their future doesn’t involve playing in NHL games. Ian Scott has moved on from hockey due to injuries, Zachary Bouthillier is still playing but is out of the NHL conversation, Vyacheslav Peksa is playing mostly in the ECHL, with some AHL spot duty, but he isn’t thriving at the moment. It’s misses such as these that will require the team to keep drafting goalies in an attempt to keep a solid flow of talent coming up the ranks and if I’m choosing a goalie to draft, that’s projected to be within the Leafs’ range on draft day, it’s hard not to like Alexei Medvedev.
Cap Dump Season
There’s quite a bit of talk of teams that are trying to clear space in order to make other moves this summer. One team is the New York Rangers, who just completed a deal that has sent long term Ranger, Chris Kreider, as well as a 4th round selection to the Anaheim Ducks for a prospect and a 3rd round pick. Kreider, who has 149 goals in 310 games played over the past 4 seasons, is known as one of the top net-front players in the NHL today. While he may be trending down at 34 years of age, he’s still a player that can help an NHL team and one you would think is worth more than a prospect that hasn’t progressed well, plus a single round jump at the draft.
The question some people are asking is, with such a weak free agent class this summer and capspace to spend now that Mitch Marner is set to sign with another team, is there a similar situation that the Leafs can take advantage of in order to better their roster before the fall?
Lawson Crouse
This is a player that I have spoken about numerous times in terms of a cap dump that the Leafs should ask about. Crouse is a 6’4″, 217lb Ontario native that scored 20 or more goals for 3 straight seasons before this year. With just 12 goals and 18pts this season, as well as $8.7M in salary to go along with a $4.3M caphit over the next 2 seasons, Crouse fits the “cap dump” bill and should be cheap to acquire. In my opinion he would thrive on a Craig Berube lead team, as compared to the smaller, faster roster that he is currently part of. He’s a good forechecker, a heavy body in the corners and in front of the net and a guy that you want on your side when the intensity of the playoffs ramps up with frequent scrums and physical battles. Crouse will be 28 years old when the puck drops on the 2025/26 season, so expecting him to eclipse his old numbers may be unrealistic. However, if the team is able to pair him with a good centre and efficient playmaker, there’s no reason to believe that he can’t score 20 goals regularly for at least another 3-5 years in the future.
Tyler Bertuzzi
Bertuzzi left the Leafs organization last season, as the team had some tough decisions to make due to being so short on capspace. When he left it was well known that he was willing to take a discount to stay, while the Leafs would have been happy to have him back. It didn’t work out between the player and team, which resulted in Bertuzzi inking a 4 year, $22M pact with the Chicago Blackhawks on July 1st, 2024. Fast forward a year and it’s rumoured that it hasn’t worked out for Tyler in Chicago. While his point totals (23 goals, 46pts, 82GP) are comparable to what he produced in Toronto, by all accounts his presence in the locker room is one the Hawks would be happy to remove. Beyond that statement I have nothing to provide. The rumours are vague, as there’s talk about him being bought out either this summer or next and little else. The question now is if the Leafs would still see him as a viable part of their future plans. With Brad Treliving vowing to change the DNA of the club and Bertuzzi having been part of it before, albeit for just a single season, would they view bringing him back as going backwards and not forwards? Also, as fans of the team know, with his skating never having been his strong suit, would bringing him back for 3 more seasons as he enters his 30s be a good bet? I, personally, enjoyed having Bertuzzi on the team while he was here, but the questions need to be asked.
Mika Zibanejad
The Leafs are in dire need of an upgrade down the middle and it’s being rumoured that New York Rangers GM, Chris Drury, has already approached Zibanejad about waiving his full NMC to facilitate a trade and Zibanejad has quietly agreed. On top of the aforementioned Chris Kreider, Drury has already moved on from former captain Jacob Trouba and Barclay Goodrow, while taking back little in terms of salary or assets outside of capspace. The expectation is that any Zibanejad trade would be much the same.
Here’s the big issue. Chris Kreider and Barclay Goodrow have 2 season’s left on their contract’s, while Trouba is one year away from becoming a free agent. These moves represent short term commitments to players that bring a physical brand of hockey to the ice, on top of being leaders in the room. All three players were also moved to teams that aren’t in contention right now, which means paying for that leadership, as a way to show their young stars of the future how to lead, can easily be seen as money well spent.
Mike Zibanejad, on the other hand, is 32 years old and has 5 years remaining on his contract with a caphit of $8.5M. He just finished his poorest statistical season since 2017/18, by way of 18 goals and 58pts in 80 games. In 5 of 6 seasons before that he produced at least 25 goals and 70pts, with the 6th season being the 56 game COVID season, where he produced 24 goals and 50pts. The question is simple; is the 2024/25 season what you can expect moving forward? Or was it simply a tough year for the New York Rangers, as management tried to bully their veteran players into waiving their trade protection, which could result in the penalty killing, two-way centre regaining his form and returning to his 70pt ways?
For what it’s worth, Zibanejad wasn’t the only Ranger to see a regression in production. Jacob Trouba, Chris Kreider, Vincent Trocheck, Adam Fox and Artemi Panarin all took hits to their point totals this season, so maybe there is something to the theory that Zibanejad hasn’t lost a step, but simply needs a change of scenery.
Lastly, while the expectation is that Zibanejad will be a salary dump, will that be the reality? It’s possible there are teams out there that are willing to bet on his return to form to the point where they’d be willing to spend valuable assets to secure his rights.
It’s a risky play on it’s own, considering his contract, but if teams are paying with picks in the upper half of the draft, or prospects with value, then the Leafs simply need to back away.
Elias Lindholm
I’ll admit that I can’t find any viable rumours or reports on Lindholm being a salary dump out of Boston this summer, but I’m sure the Bruins would be happy to take calls on the Swedish centre. Brad Treliving will be very familiar with Lindholm, as he had him in Calgary for a long time.
The risk is massive here and I hope that Treliving doesn’t take it, but considering the past connection and the topic we’re discussing, Lindholm is a “out of left field” option as a salary dump, especially if the Bruins are willing to eat some salary. Having 6 seasons left on a 7 year pact that was signed last summer, with a caphit of $7.75M, Lindholm has transitioned from one of the best, to one of the worst contracts in the NHL in a single year.
While there are still benefits to his game, such as his strong defensive play, willingness to block shots and throw his body around, as well as his playmaking abilities, the 17 goals and 47pts he amassed in 82 games through the 2024/25 season are simply not enough for a player that’s making as much as he is.
The question is, how much would that be worth in a world where the cap is rising as quickly as it is and would the Bruins be willing to take a hit in order to facilitate a trade?