| Nick Obergan. 11th June, 2011 - 12:36 pm
 After a surprisingly strong rookie season, goaltender James Reimer begins his quest for Toronto's number one goalie job with a brand new contract.
Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke and Reimer's agent released statements on June 9th indicating an agreement had been reached on a three-year contract that will reportedly pay him a total of $5.4 million and will carry a $1.8 million cap hit.
It doesn't seem like a wildly complicated contract, but there are many reasons why this makes a ton of sense for both sides.
For the Leafs, the cap hit is very reasonable. Worst case scenario is that Reimer doesn't fulfill his potential as a starting goalie in the NHL's most pressure-packed market.
While the fan base has already put their faith in the one they call 'Optimus Reim' (not confirmed, but I am fairly certain the first time that I heard this nickname was on TSN's SportCentre by morning hosts Jay Onrait and Dan O'Toole), 37 games played does not guarantee a career.
His first season was fantastic, however, as he posted a 20-10-5 record with three shutouts, a 2.60 GAA and .921 SV%, far outplaying either of Toronto's two other netminders -- J.S. Giguere and Jonas Gustavsson.
The hype the 23-year-old Reimer produced was akin to Felix Potvin's Toronto arrival in 1992-93 when he posted a 25-15-7 record with a 2.50 GAA. Sadly that was Potvin's best season, so the Leafs were smart not to put all of their eggs immediately into Reimer's basket.
If Reimer turns out to be a 30-start-per-season goalie rather than a permanent number one, the contract is very fitting as it is slotted nicely between goalies with similar workloads, Dan Ellis ($1.5M) and Antero Niittymaki ($2M). The contract also doesn't limit Toronto's future flexibility regarding signing other goalies.
If Reimer does turn out to be the undisputed number one, then the Leafs have effectively bought out two years of arbitration that would have seen Reimer awarded above $2 million, perhaps similar to Antti Niemi being awarded $2.75 million by an arbitrator after his rookie season in Chicago. To sway Reimer toward the deal, it looks as though the contract was front-loaded at $2.2 million next year, followed by two seasons at $1.6 million.
The three-year term is also important as Reimer, currently 23-years-old, will have one season remaining as a restricted free agent in Toronto, giving Brian Burke -" or whatever GM will be around in three years -" the upper hand on retaining him with a long-term deal at a time when he will have proven himself as either a 30-start goalie, or a 65-start number one.
Grade for Toronto: A
For Reimer, it is completely understandable that he would want to cash in after a strong rookie performance and give himself some security in the short-term. After all, Reimer had never shown star-caliber stuff at any level prior to arriving in the NHL this season, so who can fault him for getting paid while it was available?
Some may argue that if Reimer truly believed in his ability to be a number one goalie in the NHL, he would have only agreed to a one-year contract and cashed in after a full season in the league. But as noted above, this gives him three years of security and still one year of restricted free agency when the contract ends. So if Reimer and Leafs don't agree on terms after this contract expires, it gives him the opportunity to sign a one-year deal and enter unrestricted free agency to test the open market at 27-years-old.
There is also something to be said for a player who wants to show thanks to the organization for showing faith in them and giving them an opportunity. It also shows tremendous confidence for a player to enjoy playing in the most critical and success-starved city in the NHL. The bet here is that this guy has the makings of a 60-start goalie who can take a team to the playoffs, and if one doesn't consider this "getting paid," Optimus Reim will certainly get his when this contract expires.
Grade for Reimer: A-
Nick is RealGM's NHL Feature Writer. You can reach him by email nick.obergan@realgm.com or on twitter @NickObergan |
