Sergei Bobrovsky is set to make his Maple Leafs preseason debut Saturday night in Toronto, with the split squad drawing Montreal.
How long he actually stays in the crease is still unclear. That part hasn't been settled.
Toronto is carrying a $10,000,000 cap hit to find out. He is 37 years old, and that number isn't shrinking.
Here's the part nobody in that market wants framed and hung up. He played 52 games last season and posted a .876 save percentage.
That's the kind of number that costs people their jobs, not the kind that gets handed the loudest crease in hockey. Bold call.
He also had 4 shutouts, which is what makes the year so strange. Some nights he was untouchable. Then the floor gave out.
Anthony Stolarz is already in the room on a $2,500,000 cap hit after 26 appearances with a .893 save percentage.
-
Maple Leafs make it official with major Sergei Bobrovsky announcement
The Maple Leafs finished 32-36-14 for 78 points and sat 28th overall. Nobody in Toronto wants to relive that one.
They scored 253 goals and gave up 299. The crease was not the only issue, but it was the loudest one.
The ending was worse than the record. They dropped seven straight to close and went 2-7-1 over their final 10.
The last of those was a 1-3 night in Ottawa. That's the taste this group carried into the summer.
Jim Hiller took the bench job on June 17. Saturday gives him his first live look at Bobrovsky in blue and white.
The lineup around it isn't whole either. Morgan Rielly is questionable for the start of the season with an illness.
Max Domi is expected out until at least November 7 with a back issue. Depth gone before the first meaningful puck drop.
The opponent isn't a soft landing. Montreal finished 48-24-10 for 106 points and sixth overall.
The Canadiens also took three of four from Toronto last season, including a 5-2 night at home and a 3-1 decision in March.
So what is Saturday supposed to prove? Preseason goaltending reads like a first date. Everyone is on their best behaviour and nobody learns a thing.
The real answer lands in October, when the shots stop being polite. Toronto has spent heavily on the idea that last season was an outlier, and this market has never done patience well.
Should Jim Hiller hand Sergei Bobrovsky the starter's job in October?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Connor Hellebuyck trade could become an $8.5-million Oilers nightmare
