The Toronto Maple Leafs made some interesting changes in the goaltending department this morning. It began when the club waived Petr Mrazek. Moments later, the team signed Finnish goaltender Harri Sateri. The two came hand-in-hand, clearly attempting to shore up their crease ahead of the trade deadline.
Mrazek is on waivers today
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) March 20, 2022
Petr Mrazek Waived and Harri Sateri Signs With the Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto waived Mrazek, their highest-paid goaltender who also still has another two seasons left on his current contract. His cap hit sits at $3.8 million per year through the 2023-24 season.
Apparently replacing him on the active roster enters Sateri. It may just be for the short-term, but Sateri inked a $750,000 one-year deal to join the Leafs.
Leafs Waive Petr Mrazek
Over his ten-year NHL career Mrazek logged games with the Detroit Red Wings, Carolina Hurricanes, Philadelphia Flyers, and Leafs. He posted a 138-102-31 record in that span, with 265 career starts. His career save percentage sits at .909%, with a 2.64 goals against average.
This season, Mrazek simply hasn’t been the goaltender Toronto expected him to be. His statistics fall well below those career averages noted above. His quality start percentage lies at an abysmal .200%, coupled with a .884% save percentage and 3.48 goals against average. With Jack Campbell out with a rib injury for the short-term, Mrazek performed poorly in back-to-back losses to non-playoff clubs (Buffalo Sabres, Arizona Coyotes).
The situation looked bleak when rookie Erik Kallgren essentially took over the starting job this past week. He owns a 3-1-1 record in four games, with a strong .930% save percentage to boot. Handing a playoff team to a rookie with no NHL experience before the week began didn’t feel like a long-term solution, however. Campbell will be back soon, but it appears GM Kyle Dubas wasn’t satisfied moving forward relying on just him and Kallgren between the pipes.
Harri Sateri Signed
Acquiring Harri Sateri doesn’t provide the team much more NHL experience, either. The netminder only logged nine appearances in the league, coming way back in the 2017-18 season. His career numbers sit at 4-4-0 with a .911 save percentage.
TOR has signed Harri Sateri, who won gold with Finland. He must clear waivers.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) March 20, 2022
Sateri did win a gold medal with Finland, even if he hasn’t appeared in games in North America in roughly three years.
What This Means for the Future
The Leafs might be using these moves to clear cap space before the trade deadline tomorrow. Burying Mrazek’s $3.8 million cap hit buys them some room to breathe, especially replacing it with just $750,000. With goalies like Marc-Andre Fleury still available, this could very well just be the beginning of their moves in net.
It could also be clearing space to shore up another position instead. Maybe Dubas has enough confidence in Campbell to return and lead them through the postseason. If that is the case, he could look to splash elsewhere to improve the roster.
However much confidence he has in Campbell’s ability, though, doesn’t guarantee a thing. The bigger concern remains: what happens if Campbell gets hurt? It seems the Leafs don’t see Mrazek as a solid option if that occurs. It’s unlikely they think Kallgren should be the “next man up”, even after a solid week of games. He just doesn’t have the history to rely on for a playoff run. Signing Sateri doesn’t quell those concerns, either. So, if there’s any hunch as to what is still to come, it could very well be further changes to their goaltending carousel.
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