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Kyle Dubas spoke to the media about Mrazek on Wednesday and it sounded an awful lot like he intends on keeping him around

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Mike Armenti
July 6, 2022 (6:44 PM)

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Sometimes, I think as hockey fans, we can get into this mindset of thinking our opinions are the same as the coaches and GM's from around the league. How could they not be, right? We're all watching the same games after all. Well, that's not exactly how it works. From a business perspective, teams and their executives tend not to look at players and dismiss them outright. They look at the tools at their disposal to help their players to grow and improve. They look at the larger body of work and make their assessments based on the bigger picture and not just an isolated sample size.

When it comes to the Leafs and goaltender Petr Mrazek, it appears to be very much the latter. That much became clear on Wednesday when Leafs GM Kyle Dubas met with the media to discuss the many storylines surrounding the team before Thursday's draft and free agency on July 13th.

Dubas was asked about Petr Mrazek and where the Leafs were at with him and the answer that the Leafs' GM gave to the media was a very surprising one.

"I've been very happy with Petr and how he's been in the offseason so far. It's really our first true offseason going through. We signed him late last year, late July, when free agency was just a little bit different and he's been very responsive, very communicative with our staff throughout.

When I look at Petr, obviously he would be the first to say - and he did many times in the year - he steps out in front of everyone here and accepts when he hasn't played to the level that he feels he's capable of. If I'm forecasting and betting on him, do I bet that he was the goalie he was last year in the 20 games or do I bet he was the goalie he was for the 270 before, which was a .910 save percentage guy that gives his team a chance to win? I'd probably bet on the larger sample and that's where Petr fits into it at this time."

Mrazek posted a combined .888 SV% last season with the Leafs in the first year of a 3-year deal with a $3.8M AAV, so it's easy to understand why the fanbase is so skeptical of his ability to do the job he was brought in to do. The Czech netminder, at times last season, did look great. But the problem was that the vast majority of the time, he looked like he was swimming. He was over-committing. He wasn't handling the puck well and he was very much a guy who looked like he did not fit.

I understand that goaltenders are a unique breed and that they have to be handled a bit differently. Goalies need confidence to be able to thrive. In that aspect of things, I fully understand what Dubas is doing. He's trying to pump Mrazek's tires and give him some confidence, which could end up being a very smart thing, considering that it may not necessarily be as easy to move Mrazek's contract as we'd all like it to be. In that circumstance, rather than being stuck with a goalie who thinks management doesn't want him, he'd enter a situation where he has heard his GM back him in front of the ultra-critical Toronto media. That may give him just a little bit of confidence in his game and it could help him to find more of a rhythm than he was able to last season.

All of that aside, I truly do hope that Dubas is able to find a taker for Mrazek's contract, because at this stage of the game, Dubas can't afford to be wrong. He's potentially risking 1 of the last 2 years of Auston Matthews and William Nylander. That could not only cost him his job, but it would also prolong the suffering of Leafs Nation. So for that reason, I firmly believe that Dubas needs to do what he can to get Mrazek out and get someone else in. Do I think Matthews and Nylander are going anywhere? No, not necessarily. Do I want the Leafs to risk it with another year of subpar goaltending? Also no.

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Previously on Maple Leafs Daily

Dubas speaks publicly about negotiations with Mikheyev for the first time

Leafs GM Kyle Dubas admits to testing the market on almost every player on the roster, says creating cap space is not a problem

The latest on Ilya Lyubushkin; Leafs reportedly want to bring him back, but the cost will determine whether or not it happens

POLL
JUILLET 6 \| 541 ANSWERS Kyle Dubas spoke to the media about Mrazek on Wednesday and it sounded an awful lot like he intends on keeping him around Does Dubas keep Mrazek this summer?
Yes	127	23.5 %
No	289	53.4 %
If he does, he better be right, or he'll be fired	125	23.1 %
List of polls

Kyle Dubas spoke to the media about Mrazek on Wednesday and it sounded an awful lot like he intends on keeping him around

Does Dubas keep Mrazek this summer?