Leafs reportedly targeting Laurent Brossoit for goalie tandem with Joseph Woll

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Graham Montgomery
May 31, 2024 (5:59 PM)

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have a void to fill in goal for next season and it is looking like Winnipeg Jets goaltender Laurent Brossoit might be the perfect fit.

The team will surely be looking to get Joseph Woll some more starts next season as they develop him into their next long-term starting goalie. However, in the meantime, he will need a mentor that can share the net with him. Brossoit seems like the perfect candidate as a veteran who put up excellent numbers last season with the Jets in a small role. Apparently, the team feels the same way about him as they are reportedly targeting the netminder in free agency.

The Leafs are reportedly targeting Laurent Brossoit to form a potential goalie tandem with Joseph Woll next season, while former Leaf Dakota Joshua reportedly has some interest in rejoining the team.

[via: @jonassiegel]

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Brossoit was phenomenal in a backup role last season, putting himself in the top five goalies in both save percentage and goals saved above expected. In fact, former NHL goaltender Martin Biron thinks that Brossoit earned the right to have his name put on the William Jennings trophy for the team that gave up the fewest goals in the regular season. Currently goalies must play at least 25 games to qualify and sadly, Brossoit played in just 23 contests last season.

The 25 game rule is outdated and should be reduced to 15. Laurent Brossoit played 22 games and was a big part of the success for the Jets.

However, 23 games played is still over a quarter of the season. Given how good Brossoit was in those games, it seems only fair that he should be given credit too. In fact, his numbers were actually better than Hellebuyck's on a rate basis.

It is not the goalie that allowed the least amount of goals but the team with the lowest goals allowed in the season. Winnipeg was at 199 and Florida at 200. If Florida had won both Stolarz and Bobrovsky would have won the award. But because Brossoit played in 23 games, less than 25, he is not on the trophy.

Regardless, this is a good sign that Brossoit can be a great goalie for the Leafs. He will likely come at a discount too as he's never been given a starter's workload, lowering his value on the market. Hopefully the Leafs can take advantage of that to create the next best tandem without breaking the bank.