BREAKING: Leafs acquire Jonathan Bernier from the Kings

Well, there you have it.

For the first time since the Ed Belfour era, the Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t need a goaltender. Then they traded three assets for a man who is most likely to be the team’s backup.

We’ll have a little more on this later, but the initial prognosis is that that’s a fairly underwhelming return for the Kings. We all know about Ben Scrivens (and we will miss him, he’s probably the smartest NHLer in the game) but Matt Frattin isn’t a player you can conceivably expect to play in your Top Six. He’s a good bottom-end player with good forechecking ability and speed, but his finish and defensive game isn’t necessarily there.

It may be worthwhile to start thinking about how Randy Carlyle is going to deploy a #1 and #1A goaltender, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing but the issue with acquring Bernier was always about the cost. A backup was always going to be an important component given James Reimer’s issues with his health, but he had played his way into the starter’s role and at least earned himself a shot over an 82-game season.

So this trade leaves me a little sour, particularly since the loss of Matt Frattin and Clarke MacArthur means that one of the Leafs’ organizational strengths last year turns into a weakness. A good number of solid depth wingers that could skate and shoot has turned into the Colton Orr show. Hopefully the Leafs can add a piece from that area, but dealing Frattin and losing MacArthur means Toronto is thin on the Bottom Six where last year they were very strong.

Ugh. The last time Dave Nonis dealt for a goaltender, he did a much, much better job.