The Toronto Maple Leafs have had one of the most notorious trade histories ever. The list of botched trades is just too long to list in a single article.
But there’s one in particular that Leafs fans would rather never happened.
In June 2006, the Maple Leafs traded a goalie prospect named Tuukka Rask to the Boston Bruins for Andrew Raycroft. While there’s no need to go into the specifics of the story, the only thing here that matters is that Toronto passed on a goalie who would become one of the best of his generation.
That’s the situation the Maple Leafs could replicate with Dennis Hildeby. The 24-year-old became expendable when the club signed Sergei Bobrovsky. Moreover, the emergence of Artur Akhtyamov gave the organization the confidence to move on from Hildeby.
Now, at face value, Hildeby looks like a solid NHL netminder. He doesn’t come off as a future Vezina winner. Unlike Rask, Hildeby doesn’t project as a future number-one goalie.
That was the huge difference with Rask. The Maple Leafs knew that Rask was a good prospect. But they chose Raycroft, who was one year removed from a Calder Trophy. The organization also decided to bet on Justin Pogge, a netminder who played in all of seven NHL games.
Could that be the case with Hildeby? Could Hildeby turn into Rask and Akhtyamov Pogge?
It’s a situation giving Maple Leafs fans flashbacks to a botched deal that happened two decades ago.
Circumstances Much Different for Maple Leafs This Time
A recurring theme among business executives is “this time it’s different.” Yes, every crisis, every deal, every win is “different.”
And certainly, this time it’s different for the Maple Leafs. The team is not betting on an iffy netminder with one year of success. Bobrovsky comes with a proven track record, even if the miles have really begun to rack up.
Nevertheless, Bobrovsky will be the guy to carry the load, with Anthony Stolarz the backup. As such, Akhtyamov won’t be the heir apparent in the crease, at least not this season.
The goalie situation this year is much different from that in 2006. The Leafs aren’t banking on a guy like Raycroft becoming the team’s next Vezina Trophy winner. They have that in Bobrovsky.
The only thing that matters at this point is winning. And who better than “Bob” to do it?
What to read next:
No One Will Care About Hildeby If Toronto Wins a Cup
Ultimately, no one will care about Hildeby if the Maple Leafs win a Stanley Cup. That’s the goal. That’s the whole point of splurging on a goalie like Bobrovsky. If that happens, fans won’t mind if Hildeby becomes the next great Tampa Bay Lightning goalie.
That might be a bit tough, however, with Andrei Vasilevskiy still firmly entrenched in the Lightning crease.
It will certainly be interesting to see what happens, especially if the Maple Leafs can finally get over the proverbial hump. Anything short of a prolonged playoff run this upcoming season would be an abject failure, potentially leading to full-on rebuild talk.
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