The Toronto Maple Leafs have made the first splash in the trade pool, acquiring goaltender Jonathan Bernier from the L.A. Kings for forward Matt Frattin, goalie Ben Scrivens and a 2nd round pick in either 2014 or 2015.
Courtesy: Chasen Ikiri
Bernier was drafted by the Kings 11th overall in 2006 has a total of 62 regular season games under his belt. The Leafs, it seems, may have over spent on the back up goalie, however Bernier, at only 24 years of age, has shown flashes of brilliance that had made him one of the biggest targets leading up to draft day. Bernier has been stuck behind Jonathan Quick for the last few years. Quick, the Conn Smythe winner of last years Stanley Cup playoffs, has become one of, if not the, best goalies in the league. Bernier now has a chance to become what everyone expected of him – a starter.
The Leafs had a bounce back year this season, making the playoffs for the first time since the lockout – not this lockout, the other one (yeah it’s been a while) – and starting goalie James Reimer seemed poised to take control of the net for the next few years. He played very well at times, however, he seemed to choke and let in the occassional 4-5 goals a game. With only Ben Scrivens as back up, there didn’t seem to be too much pressure to perform for Reimer as he was the Leafs best bet. With Bernier coming in, Reimer just became expendable.
Not to say that the Leafs will trade Reimer or have him ride it out while Bernier finally gets his shot. The two goalies will most likely split time and Randy Carlyle will go with the hot hand.
Bernier is 29-20-6 with a 2.36 GAA and .912 save percentage in 62 career games with 6 shutouts.
The Kings picked up a couple good players who will do very well under Darryl Sutter. Ben Scrivens is a solid back up who had some good games this year with the Leafs, but now he’ll be riding shotgun to Jonathan Quick, who’s not a bad guy to learn from. Matt Frattin is a power forward and I think he fits nicely with Sutter’s game. He didn’t seem to mesh well with Toronto’s system, but he’ll find his game in L.A.
Frattin has 15 goals and 28 points in 82 career games.
Scrivens was 7-9 with a 2.69 GAA and .915 save percentage with the Leafs this season.
The first domino has fallen and the week is just getting started leading up to Friday night.
I love this time year.
More to come…
