The recall of Michael Hutchinson this morning had all the necessary elements required to throw Leafs Nation into its far too common state of panic. Personally I went through four stages of goaltender grief.

Stage 1: LOL, Sparks is scratched
Stage 2: OMFG!!! What if something is wrong with Andersen
Stage 3: Is Woll ready to start???
Stage 4: Thank God, it’s just Sparks

It’s seems as if this training will be occurring in isolation since…

 

So really that’s all there is to it. The Leafs want to go with Hutchinson as their backup, and that makes sense given his better numbers for the Leafs, and with him being a bit more game ready based on the volume of work with the Marlies. It’s not that anyone should feel confident that Hutchinson is a solid option if something were to happen to Andersen, but respectable spot duty is something the Leafs have lacked all year with Sparks.

As for Sparks himself, he’s just been handed another year with the Leafs at $750k next season, and potentially if he puts in the work with the coaches this spring and summer (and opts out of  being a beer league winger) he’ll get his chance at camp next summer to compete for the backup job again, although I wouldn’t rule out Hutchinson being brought back or the Leafs bringing in someone new to compete against him for that role.

Perhaps Sparks has been shutdown because the Leafs front office knows that he needs a change of scenery and has a trade lined up as soon as the Leafs playoffs (read: after they win the cup) are over. Sparks is cheap and only a year commitment, and it seems he’s already lost the Toronto fan base, and potentially the coaching staff as supporters. He’s not going to bring much or anything in return, but I wouldn’t rule out a completely fresh start.

Sparks has essentially become the Leafs 4th string goaltender, behind Woll. I’m certain the Leafs would rather open up the mystery box and see what they have in Woll if their resources become so depleted in the playoffs, but at the same time, it’s too early to completely rule out that we won’t see Sparks on the Leafs bench at some point.

Update: In fact if all goes well we’ll see him in 10 days…

I just want to say kudos to the Leafs organization for managing to make the backup goaltending situation as interesting as possible, right down to having Andersen take a high shot in practice today to remind us that while talking about backups seems silly, it does in fact matter.