Did The Leafs Make A Mistake By Signing Petr Mrazek?
from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,
The Maple Leafs are paying now — and might be paying later — for the foolish reach they made on signing Petr Mrazek for three years and $11.4 million in the off-season.
Really, they should have known better. They should have done more homework on the goaltender. They should have understood why Carolina didn’t want him back, which was for similar reasons the Leafs soured on Frederik Andersen.
Behind closed doors, Leafs management complained about Andersen’s health, about his willingness to play and inability to battle through injuries, perceived or otherwise.
That lack of dependability in management’s mind, not to mention the dollars involved, ended Andersen’s time in Toronto. The same lack of dependability ended Mrazek’s time with the Hurricanes.
Mrazek is not unlike a lot of modern-day athletes. He needs to be almost perfect physically to be able to play. He isn’t delicate, but he’s close to that. That was the book on him in Carolina. He’s not a Grant Fuhr, who would pop his shoulder in and out on a daily basis, knowing he had to do that just to be able to play the following day.
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