Maple Leafs’ Playoffs Struggles Can’t Be All Blamed on Goaltending

This year, the Leafs lost the first game of the series by a score of 5-1. Facing 24 shots, goaltender Ilya Samsonov gave four goals for a save percentage (SV%) of .833. He then backstopped the Leafs to a 3-2 win in the second meeting, allowing only two goals on 27 shots for a .931 SV%. He was also on duty for the two losses suffered in Toronto. In the third, he stopped 30 of 33 shots for a .909 SV%, and in Saturday’s game, he saved 14 of the 17 shots he faced (.824 SV%) before being pulled from the game after two periods.

Granted, this is not great goaltending but how come the blame is always hung at the Leafs’ goalie’s door? Samsonov has not been brilliant through four games, but can you expect to win when you score one goal? In two of the four games played, Toronto scored one meager goal. In the other loss, two goals, this is not on the man in the crease. This is on the players whose job it is to score goals. Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and, to a lesser extent, William Nylander, as he’s only played one game in the series. The first three all have a single goal through four games. Meanwhile, Brad Marchand has eight points, and David Pastrnak has five.

A Turnstile in Net

It’s not the first time (and it probably won’t be the last), a Toronto goaltender has been criticized for the Maple Leafs’ failure. James Reimer was traded to the San Jose Sharks on February 27, 2016. Then came Frederik Anderson in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks; he spent five years in Toronto, and he left as a free agent to sign with the Carolina Hurricanes. The Leafs’ brass decided he wasn’t a “playoff goaltender,” and they needed a change. In his last playoffs with Toronto in 2019-2020, he had a .936 SV% and a 1.84 GAA in five games.

After Andersen’s departure, Jake Campbell took over and was in the net when the Montreal Canadiens beat the Leafs in seven games on their way to the Stanley Cup final. In that loss, Campbell had a 1.81 GAA and a .934 SV%. He did collapse in the playoffs the following year and the Leafs let him walk away in free agency. This turned out to be an astute decision, as Campbell has been awful since signing a $25 million contract with the Edmonton Oilers.

Then came Matt Murray, who has not been the same since leaving Pittsburgh. The Leafs only needed to give up a future consideration to acquire him from Ottawa. Murray played only 26 games in his first season with Toronto and then had to undergo hip surgery, which kept him out of the crease all season.

When Brad Treliving became the general manager, knowing Murray would be unavailable, he went out and signed both Martin Jones and Ilya Samsonov. Samsonov got the lion’s share of the work this season, playing 40 games, while Jones featured in 22 games and Joseph Woll 25 games. Samsonov’s numbers weren’t great (3.13 GAA and .890 SP), but he’s the one Sheldon Keefe tasked with taking on the Bruins with the result we’ve already discussed above.

The Leafs have had a turnstile in the net for quite some time now and have failed to get playoff success with any of their goaltenders. Perhaps the crease is not the Leafs’ most pressing issue? Someday, Toronto’s front office will have to realize the team assembled is not suited to playoff hockey, and that’s not on the goaltenders.

The Way Forward

Don’t get me wrong, this lineup oozes talent, but getting a big four that is solely focused on scoring goals and picking up points to pad up their stats will never lead to playoff success. There’s no doubt that any team needs some talent to succeed in the NHL, but you need some of those talented players to be able to push back in the playoffs. Spending so much money on Matthews, Tavares, Marner, and Nylander when they lack both grit and physicality is a mistake. Until this mistake is fixed, Toronto will not have playoff success, let alone win the Stanley Cup.

Last offseason, Treliving went out and signed Ryan Reaves to a three-year contract presumably to add some grit and physicality, but the Leafs do not need a washed-up enforcer, they need players who can score and play playoff hockey. The new GM did sign both Max Domi and Tyler Bertuzzi, who are a step in the right direction (they are leading the teams in point with three since the start of the series, tied with Matthews). Still, he could get much more talented players with the right skill set for the playoffs if he just accepted that one of the members of his big four will need to be sacrificed.

Should the Leafs bow out in Boston on Tuesday night, the days of one of the big four in Toronto could be counted. Who should go? That’s a discussion for another day.