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Brian Burke should be on the phone for a goalie right about now

Brian Burke

Leafs coach Ron Wilson made it crystal clear that both Jonas Gustavsson and Ben Scrivens are not the answer they’re looking for in a backup goalie in Toronto. With James Reimer still out dealing with a whiplash-like injury, it’s been on those two to stop pucks. In their last few games they’ve done anything but that.

So what now? With Reimer’s status still up in the air as to when he’s getting back, the backup issue is going to stay terrible and isn’t changing without a trade being worked out. Marty Turco is readily available as a free agent but he wouldn’t do anything to fix the problem. Brian Burke does have a couple of teams he could talk to about a deal though.

Florida has a glut of useful goaltending at the top with Jose Theodore and Scott Clemmensen with Clemmensen being the guy most likely to be moved. Clemmensen has just one year left on his deal and with Jacob Markstrom back in the AHL for the time being and with a future as their eventual top guy, Clemmensen is just the guy holding things down in the mean time. Dale Tallon and Brian Burke working on a trade has the potential to be explosively glorious.

If that doesn’t tickle their fancy there’s always the Islanders. The Isles are rolling with Rick DiPietro, Al Montoya, and Evgeni Nabokov in goal and Nabokov is the guy most readily available to move. Nabokov isn’t a permanent solution but would likely improve their backup situation dramatically and give Ron Wilson a guy he’s more than familiar with from his days in San Jose. Only question here is what it would take to get Garth Snow to move Nabokov. It won’t be cheap.

One way or another, Burke has a move to make here to keep the Leafs riding high all season. Backup goalie is a huge Achilles Heel for this team and they’ll need a fix sooner than later.