How The Maple Leafs Can Leverage Goaltending Depth To Improve Other Areas

As we've seen already this season, NHL teams that have goaltending issues can quickly come to regret it.

The Los Angeles Kings, Buffalo Sabres and Chicago Blackhawks have been defensive sieves thus far this year, while the New York Rangers have both superstar goalie Igor Shesterkin and backup Joonas Korpisalo on the shelves.

So, if you're one of the few fortunate teams with depth between the pipes, you have a golden opportunity to leverage those assets to better balance your roster.

There's no better example of that than the Toronto Maple Leafs.

When you're one of 32 NHL GMs, one of your jobs is to project what your team is going to look like down the road. In his short time as Maple Leafs GM, John Chayka has done exactly that – with one of his most notable moves coming right out of the gate when he dealt goaltender Joseph Woll to the Philadelphia Flyers.

It wasn't as much about the return Chayka got for Woll, but rather, the $3.6-million in cap space Chayka freed up by trading his contract.

Now, as Chayka projects what the Maple Leafs will look like a year from now in net, the only surefire commitment he's made is to Sergei Bobrovsky. The 38-year-old made a commitment to Toronto, and if he doesn't play well, there will be no teams stepping up to take him off the Maple Leafs' hands.

That brings us to current backup Anthony Stolarz and AHL starter Artur Akhtyamov — the latter of whom essentially stole a Calder Cup championship for the Toronto Marlies last season.

Akhtyamov will no longer be waivers exempt next season, so unless the Maple Leafs are prepared to carry three goalies all season long, they're going to lose one of Stolarz or Akhtyamov on the waiver wire next season.

Losing either player for nothing in return would be a grave mismanagement of assets for Chayka, so knowing that one of Akhtyamov or Stolarz will be ex-Leafs next season really makes the case for Chayka to trade one of them.

Deciding the more likely trade candidate is a relatively simple process. One of them is a 32-year-old who is currently on his fifth NHL team. The other is a 24-year-old who can apprentice behind his fellow countrymen in Bobrovsky. We trust you can figure out who is who here.

Chayka may decide that next summer is the best time to trade Stolarz, but good GMs also have to be opportunistic. Considering that NHL teams already are looking for goalie help, it could be the wrong move for Chakya to keep Stolarz around.

When teams are in panic mode for a goalie, that's when Chayka should be taking the bull by the horns and making a proactive deal to balance out the roster. Chayka already has shown he's willing to do that by making the Joseph Woll and even the Denis Hildeby deals, and he can do that again with a Stolarz trade.

Chayka may be happy just rolling the dice for the rest of the season with the goalie depth he currently possesses, but the proactive move would be to leverage Stolarz's value sooner than later and acquire either the help they need — on defense in particular.

When you have great netminding depth, it gives you the flexibility to improve your team in other areas, and that's a luxury the Maple Leafs have. But it's on Chayka to have the guts to continue being bold with his goalies. If he does so, Toronto's overall balance as a group is going to continue improving.

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