Giguere Turning Over a New Leaf

Jean-Sebastien Giguere shutout the Atlantic Division leading New Jersey Devils last night, effectively placing him back on the fantasy radar.  This transition should be no surprise as we listed him as a winner of the recent blockbuster trades due to an increase in playing time.

The problem for the Leafs this year would be keeping the puck out of the net as the team sits dead last yielding 195 goals against.  Vesa Toskala, Joey MacDonald and current backup Jonas Gustavsson all averaged over three goals-a-game making the Leafs chances of victory highly unlikely.

With an established NHL goaltender between the pipes they should stand a much better chance of winning.

In Giguere, coach Ron Wilson and company receive an All Star, Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe winner.  Although his statistics seem mediocre the veteran fared better when given consistent work.  Ducks coach Randy Carlyle played him for four consecutive games and Giguere responded with three wins and surrendering less than two goals per game.

Now with the opportunity to play consistently and maintain a rhythm he should inch closer to his career 2.52 GAA and .913 SV%.

Although the team should allow less goals, trading four productive players will not help the offense.  Last night they managed three goals but keep in mind those tallies came against a rusty Yann Danis.  Temper your expectations of this team as the Leafs likely will miss the playoffs.  Their starting goalie situation, however, no longer resembles a fantasy black hole.