Jonathan Bernier Was Just Joking, Thank God

This morning, we brought up that the Leafs may be looking at Malcolm Subban of the Boston Bruins reasonable, since the Leafs have seen exactly zero wins from early year starter Jonathan Bernier over the course of the Fall 2015 campaign.

Bernier ended up getting mildly injured and sat out a few games, though, during which time backup James Reimer has improved his record on the year to 5-2-1. He has a .925 raw save percentage, was the league’s third start of the week last week, and looks miles above his now-number two, Bernier. 

Is Bernier handling it well? 

Uh…

Look. I’m a big(ish) Bernier fan, at least in the sense that I think he’s generally an acceptable 1A option in net. He looks pretty awful right now, but I’m generally of the belief that his skill set exceeds this year’s limited evidence provided by his save percentage (and his uncharacteristically sloppy play on more than a few nights).

The first game Bernier was referring to was his own upsetting 4-3 loss on Monday night, when the New York Rangers extended their win streak to nine games and Mats Zuccarello scored on Bernier with less than a minute left in the game. 

Oh… there was also that goal by Derek Stepan, which was described as ‘essentially a dump-in from center ice’. (Did you miss it? That’s probably a good thing.)

The second game? Well, it sounds like Bernier was referencing the iconic Game Seven collapse against the Boston Bruins in 2013. That was a three-goal lead relinquished in the final ten minutes of the game – against James Reimer, nonetheless – and the game was ultimately lost on an overtime shot by Patrice Bergeron. 

That’s some shade, Bernier.

Ok, ok…

It’s hard to see the Leafs giving the okay to Bernier for the majority of the starts this year, and it’s looking like it makes more and more sense. For a bona fide starter, though, this would be insulting and upsetting – yet Bernier has never been better than a 1A at best for Toronto, and that makes his ‘snarky’ comment all the more awkward.

The good news is that the Reimers are a family that doesn’t take much crap. I can’t see this shaking Reimer at all unless he’s shaking with laughter; he should continue to be reasonably above average, although the question remains whether he’s capable of playing a full starter’s load on a season without seeing his play decline. 

The bad news? Bernier isn’t the UFA this summer – Reimer is. Considering how this season has gone so far, you’d have hoped it was the other way around.