A new piece taking a contrarion view on the cap value of James Reimer and Jonathan Bernier

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On Friday September 20th, Steve Laidlaw wrote in the daily ramblings:

 "James Reimer was solid last season, skating on a team that was consistently outshot. I'm not sure Bernier could hold up under fire the way Reimer did last season. If Bernier is just in Toronto to be a backup or an insurance policy the Leafs are paying way too much for it."

I beg to differ about Reimer's play. He is who we thought he was and I've got 16 minutes and 47 seconds to show you why.

First, I understand that we fans look at things through fantasy glasses. It is all about our stat categories. Usually, this means Wins, Shutouts, maybe GAA or Save Percentage. That skews things.

Here are his stats from the last two seasons:

He plays about the same number of games, faced 21 fewer shots and let in 21 fewer goals in total. Reimer is only facing 1.5 more shots per game as compared to the year before. So far Steve looks good.

Now look at the teams stats from the last two seasons:

They increased their scoring by a ¼ goal per game which helps the team and Reimer get wins. They decreased their goals against by ½ a goal a game but it mostly comes from a better penalty killing system under Carlyle. The team was better which generated better stats for Reimer. Good as long as we keep looking through those fantasy glasses.

Last year was special in that it was a shortened season. Carlyle had them playing hard-nosed hockey all that time. It will be more difficult to do that consistently over 82 games this season.

But my final point on the matter of James Reimer comes down to time. Ten minutes and 42 seconds to blow a three goal lead and six minutes and five seconds to lose game seven in overtime. The Leafs and James Reimer from 2011/12 were on the ice during that stretch of 16:47, while the 2012/13 versions were already in the locker room celebrating. You can watch the highlights here:  Click to watch Leafs in shock

Yes, Johanthan Bernier has been a backup goalie in his time with the Kings but he does have a Stanley Cup to his credit.

Here are his stats from the last two years:

He is only 25 years old and, current equipment issues aside, on the upswing of his career. The money isn't being spent on a one-time great whose abilities no longer match their past accomplishments. His cap hit is going to be 2.9 million dollars and if he is a backup then the only comparison to his contract is Anaheim's Viktor Fasth.

If the starting job is split equally between Reimer and Bernier then the cost is not terrible. The Leafs are paying 4.7 million dollars on goaltending in total. Only the Flames, Avalanche, Oilers, Panthers, Islanders, Senators, Flyers, Sharks, Lightning, Capitals and Jets are paying less for their tandems. (I have excluded Chicago because of Crawford's extension). Five of those teams are on Steve's terrible tier. I think Ottawa and Washington have better or equal value for the money spent on their goaltenders as compared to Toronto's.

However, if Bernier becomes the clear starter then it is Reimer's 1.8 million dollars that are compared to other backups which is closer to the norm throughout the league. Bernier's contract would then look relatively small compared to the other starters.

Management brought in Bernier because they too worry that Reimer is who we thought he was and that he hasn't changed. They couldn't pay enough money to wipe away the sting of last year but they sure as heck are going to try to prevent the same thing from happening in the future.

(All salary or cap hit amounts are from CapGeek.com. Game statistics are from NHL.com)