A report from Nick Kypreos states that goaltender James Reimer has asked for a trade out of Toronto. The report also indicates that the Maple Leafs had conversations with the Winnipeg Jets, potentially about a trade involving Reimer.
https://twitter.com/RealKyper/status/483350656976031744
Do you have your grain of salt? Good. You’ll need it. The last major report from Kypreos involved the Chicago Blackhawks and a trade of Patrick Sharp, but it was quickly refuted. Barring a major surprise, it looked like a big miss from Kypreos. Still, Reimer demanding a trade makes a lot of sense and it’s pretty easy to believe that the Maple Leafs would be more than willing to accommodate this request.
Reimer is stuck in a difficult situation. The Maple Leafs had abysmal defense and goaltending last season, but favored Jonathan Bernier in net. Reimer ended the year with a pretty mediocre line, posting a GAA of 3.29 over 36 games. He just completed a three-year, $5.4 million contract and is set to be a restricted free agent. With Toronto reportedly considering Martin Brodeur, Reimer’s future in Toronto is in doubt. It’s highly likely that Reimer doesn’t want to play second fiddle behind Bernier.
Reimer moving to the Jets would make a lot of sense. Ondrej Pavelec didn’t exactly build confidence with his 3.01 GAA and .901 save percentage in 2013-14. You could debate whether Reimer would be an upgrade or not, but perhaps a change would be enough to take him to the next level.
