TRADE: Reimer to the Sharks for Stalock, Smith, and a 2018 4th

One of the longest serving Leafs is out the door today as James Reimer gets the chance to join a playoff team. There’s a lot to digest with this one, so let’s get to it.

First, this return doesn’t appear very good at all, especially when you consider the Oilers received a nearly identical return for Anders Nilsson, a struggling goaltender demoted to the AHL. 

Reimer, on the other hand, has been very good this season, and a conditional 4th round pick in the not to distant future seems bizarre. The conditions of the pick are that it turns into a 3rd assuming the Sharks making to the Cup Final. So it’s a 4th.

The rest of the return isn’t stellar either. Stalock is a below average backup goaltender and Ben Smith is as generic as his name. Leafs might as well lend Smith to the Barracudas to make up for Raffi Torres not being available to them.

Both Stalock and Smith are UFAs at the end of this season, so if they can’t be flipped, they’ll probably just depart on July 1st.

The Leafs also give up Jeremy Morin in this deal, which is essentially just managing the number of contracts.

This isn’t going to be a deal we like. Reimer was a fan favourite, and Bernier is not the goaltender of the future. Neither is Stalock. Though I wouldn’t doubt that Lou is already trying to flip Stalock. 

Unfortunately the goaltender market is terrible and the return on Reimer was always going to be terrible. If Reimer really does want a long term deal, that would pay him like a bona fide NHL starter, there was no point to keeping him, because that would be a kiss of death.

Unfortunately we’ll have to suck this one up and just remember that Toronto fleeced San Jose on the Polak and Spaling deal, so this isn’t the end of the world.