This pretty well has to be the low point of his career, doesn't it?A brief chronology of his time with Toronto:
June 2006: Leafs trade super-prospect Tuukka Rask to Boston in exchange for Raycroft.
October 2006 - April 2007: Raycroft is the Leafs' #1 goaltender, and ties the team record for wins in a season despite a mediocre 2.99 GAA and .899 SV%.
July 2007: JFJ trades 3 draft choices to San Jose for Vesa Toskala, all but ending Raycroft's run as the #1 goalie.
October - November 2007: Neither Raycroft nor Toskala shine in net - mostly due to extremely poor defensive play in front of them - and as a result, Raycroft is still in the hunt for the #1 goalie position.
November - December 2007: Toskala outshines Raycroft, and Raycroft spends the majority of games on the bench.
December 2007: A groin injury to Toskala opens the door for Raycroft to get starts. He responds with 13 goals against in 3 games, raising his GAA to a season-high 3.86, and lowering his SV% to .876 - the lowest since the first game of the year. His record sits at an embarrassing 2-5-4, or 2-9 if we're being honest with ourselves.
January 2008: Career back-up and current 4th string goaltender Scott Clemmensen starts in place of Raycroft.
Barring an injury to Raycroft (and no such injury is being reported, anywhere), this is rock bottom.
Raycroft seemed to have accepted his back-up status. All accounts had him pegged as a positive influence on the team, a stark contrast to his younger, blacker counterpart in Ottawa.But this latest turn of events may rock the boat a little. See, if Paul Maurice has no more confidence in Raycroft than Clemmensen, why not waive him and hope another team will pick him up via re-entry waivers? This would leave the Leafs responsible for only half of his (bloated) salary. The move doesn't make the team any better on the ice, but it does make the team financially better. Clemmensen earns $500,000, only a quarter of Raycroft's $2M. This would leave the team with more flexibility to make moves elsewhere - and we all know they need help almost everywhere.
There is also the option of having Raycroft play with Justin Pogge in the AHL rather than Clemmensen. The Leafs would still pay his full salary, but it would be Clemmensen's salary counting against the cap rather than Raycroft's. Assuming the two are going to play at roughly the same level, this is a favourable option, no?
2 comments:
Definitely the end of the line for Raysoft, as Clemmensen gets the call again tonight, and Eklund rumours are flying about that Raycroft is to be put on waivers very shortly.
Clem played once and won; Raycroft played thrice and didn't. For back-up goalies, it's often about Wins against Losses rather than GAA and SV%. Back-ups often play in shitty situations and aren't expected to perform to the same standard as the #1. They're just supposed to give the team a chance to win. Clem has done that. His numbers weren't that much better than Raycroft's, but Andy was letting in backbreakingly disheartening goals...and I think that's the difference.
Good on Clem for (maybe) stealing a big league job away from a goalie not far removed from #1 status.
I'd be surprised to see Raycroft on waivers...JFJ paid a hefty price to get him, and waiving him means admitting to a gigantic mistake. Let's not forget he is also "playing" for a contract.
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