The Toronto Maple Leafs need a goaltender.

The Leafs’ tandem on Sunday night in Raleigh boasted a grand total of 18 games’ of NHL experience – all of them belonging to Erik Kallgren. Before coming up big with a 29-save effort in Sunday’s win over the Hurricanes, Kallgren had struggled with an .888 save percentage in those first 18 games. Toronto scrambled to sign Marlies farmhand and second-year pro Keith Petruzzelli to an NHL contract on Saturday night after Samsonov went down.

Oft-injured netminder Matt Murray, out since opening night with an abductor injury, is scheduled to practice for the first time on Tuesday and coach Sheldon Keefe said his return is “on the horizon.” The Leafs are still waiting on results from an MRI to properly assess the severity of Ilya Samsonov’s injury. He left Saturday’s game after an awkward attempted save on a penalty shot from Brad Marchand – and Keefe said it’s possible that Samsonov is out longer than the minimum required week.

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Even if Samsonov is sidelined for just a short period of time, there is no doubt the Leafs spent part of Sunday analyzing the goaltending market to see what might be out there given Murray’s injury history. It’s difficult to count on Murray being upright now for any extended period.

So, what are the Leafs’ options?

Here are a few different ones, with potential short and long-term solutions:

 

1. Joonas Korpisalo, Columbus Blue Jackets

  • Age: 28
  • Stats: 1 GP, 5.01 GAA, .889 SV%, .900 SV% HDscA
  • Contract: Pending UFA, $1.3 million AAV|
  • Acquisition Cost: Medium

Korpisalo worked his way back from offseason surgery to make his season debut in his native Finland on Saturday as part of the NHL’s Global Series. The Blue Jackets are one of a few teams with a goalie surplus; Columbus is only of one two teams (Ottawa) carrying three NHL goalies on their roster right now. We know prized prospect Daniil Tarasov isn’t going anywhere. Tarasov signed a three-year, one-way deal this past offseason. He could be sent to AHL Cleveland because he remains waiver exempt this season. Sources say Korpisalo was offered up to teams last summer for a mid-to-late round pick. He is again a pending UFA. All of that has me wondering … given the tough start to Elvis Merzlikins’ season, and what appears to be an emotional rollercoaster for him game-to-game in body language, is it possible the Blue Jackets would also consider moving Merzlikins? It’s possible, but perhaps that term and contract would scare off a team like Toronto right now, where Korpisalo is a better fit for a host of reasons.