Ferguson rolls dice on Toskala deal

by user Mtellqvist32

After sending top prospect Tuukka Rask to the Boston Bruins for Andrew Raycroft just twelve months ago, the Maple Leafs have made another major deal. For the second consecutive year at the draft, the Toronto Maple Leafs have acquired goaltending help, adding Vesa Toskala from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for three picks, including their 13th overall selection. A tandem of Raycroft and Toskala – one will eventually emerge as the starter – should be enough, along with a few other additions, to lead the Maple Leafs to the playoffs for the first time since 2004, but at what expense? Leafs GM John Ferguson has made another gamble, a desperate measure for someone gambling for their own personal contract extension.

There had been speculation that Ferguson could receive a two or three contract extension by draft weekend, but evidently, that didn’t occur. Therefore, Ferguson forcibly has to work by putting his own future first, rather than his clubs. It’s an unfortunate occurrence, but a realistic stance for anyone in Ferguson’s position. It is anticipated that Ferguson could land a contract extension sometime before the month of June.

Such a gamble in acquiring Toskala has its benefits and drawbacks. Just like all the risks taken before Toskala – namely Jason Allison, Eric Lindros and Andrew Raycroft – it is another short term gain, long term pain scenario. While bringing Vesa Toskala will stabilize the Maple Leafs in goal, one can only help but think the Maple Leafs could have finally landed their Mats Sundin replacement. Sundin, 36, is on the border of retirement, and franchise names like Alexei Cherepanov and French-Canadian Angelo Esposito were still available at what would have been the Maple Leafs selection.

With the Maple Leafs trading away yet another first round pick, the amount of young talent available to the Maple Leafs remains low, for an organization lacking in prospect depth. Interestingly enough, Ferguson (a former scout) is devoted to building effectively through the draft, but has traded away three of his four first-round selections during his tenure in Toronto. In the new-NHL, the 1A-1B goalie system seems to be the way to go. The year after the lockout, the Carolina Hurricanes captured the Stanley Cup, with both goaltender Cam Ward and Martin Gerber playing significant roles. The same applies for the Anaheim Ducks’ Jean-Sebastien Giguere and Ilya Bryzgalov.

Just maybe, maybe Ferguson will get lucky. Besides, this is the safest gamble he has made to date. Acquiring a goaltender that has a record of 49-17-5 over the past two seasons is never a bad thing. By no means does it hurt to acquire a goaltender inching to become a No.1. On paper, it looks a lot better than acquiring Raycroft, who struggled during his final season in Boston, winning only eight of 30 games. With any luck, Toskala may perform the same as the last backup goalie traded out of San Jose – the Flames’ Vezina-winning Miikka Kiprusoff.

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