The Value of James Reimer

[domal]

Just curious what everyone thinks of up and comer James Reimer.
I know he is currently an RFA for Toronto.
A few questions:
Was his 20 wins a fluke last year?
Will he get the starting job in TO?
Do you think he'll falter under the pressure in TO?
I haven't seen much of him play, and I'm curious if he's going to be a flash in the pan or not.

Thanks!

[JagrBomb]

any goalie that can play that well on a pretty bad team has to be good (or at least have the potential to be a starter).

it looks like he will be given every chance to be the starter next year, but it remains to be seen what the leafs do with the other goalie. do they let gustavsson be backup? giguere? my guess is the leafs get a solid backup goalie (could be giguere or another UFA) to help mentor the kid, and relieve some of the workload. letting him play 60-70 games would be foolish IMO. The leafs faithful love the kid, and the few games he did get lit up this season, fans werent calling for his head. it seems that optimus reim is the real deal, but i wouldnt bet my house on that yet. give him a full season in the NHL and i'll make my judgement then.

[ericdaoust]

He's a good goalie to own because his odds of being a major hit are far better than most prospects because he has already had success in the NHL. It's not a guarantee, but if he was able to do it once you have to assume he is capable of doing it again.

[Brady19]

As a comparison to maybe help you gauge his value... I have Reimer ranked in and around guys like: Varlamov, Bernier, and a few spots lower than Corey Crawford.

[domal]

As a comparison to maybe help you gauge his value... I have Reimer ranked in and around guys like: Varlamov, Bernier, and a few spots lower than Corey Crawford.

Thanks for the comparison.
I'm having a hard time deciding if he's a viable starting goalie going into next season, or if he's a player to sell high on.

[TML]

James Reimer is the future in net for the Leafs.

I'd expect some bumps along the road next year, but he should play around 50-55 games. If you have the time to wait a couple years for the Leafs to improve, and for Reimer to get better, then you'll have a good goalie in your hands. If you're in a one year league, I'd advice against drafting Reimer.

[Reuben]

James Reimer is the future in net for the Leafs.

I'd expect some bumps along the road next year, but he should play around 50-55 games. If you have the time to wait a couple years for the Leafs to improve, and for Reimer to get better, then you'll have a good goalie in your hands. If you're in a one year league, I'd advice against drafting Reimer.

I'll go with this. Watching from a distance, I think it's fairly clear he's the guy in the Leafs net.

The issue, as TML said, is that the Leafs aren't really going to be all that hot for the foreseeable future.

He'll get you numbers b/c he should start a decent amount of games..but I'm not betting on a whole lot of wins behind the Leafs in the short term.

[jayz16]

I'll be the echo here and say that Reimer CAN potentially be a decent option but you should NOT draft him in a one year league unless you're really stuck in the later rounds.

He's not without fault but there seems to be some talent there and couple that with what is very important for prospects, opportunity, you may have a good 2nd goalie.

My projections for next year (speculative as a Leaf fan) is 50 games, 27 wins, 20 losses and 4 shutouts.

As stated already, if you've got the time, the Leafs seem to be on the right track to be playoff team.

At worst, you'll have a guy with a plethora of cheesy (but AWESOME!haha) nicknames like Reimtime, Optimus Reim or the Reiminister of Defense!

[pmorrow]

Just curious what everyone thinks of up and comer James Reimer.
I know he is currently an RFA for Toronto.
A few questions:
Was his 20 wins a fluke last year?
Will he get the starting job in TO?
Do you think he'll falter under the pressure in TO?
I haven't seen much of him play, and I'm curious if he's going to be a flash in the pan or not.

Thanks!

Was his 20 wins a fluke last year? No, he stole many of those games. A lot of his wins were hard earner 30+ save efforts that would have been losses with Giggy or Gustavsson in net.

Will he get the starting job in TO? Yes he will, at least to start the year. Burke has indicated that they're going to go with him as the starter next year. They have also said that Gustavsson will likely get an opportunity to be the backup, so take that as a sign that no big name goalies are coming in. At least that's how things look right now.

Do you think he'll falter under the pressure in TO?
From what I could tell, he handles pressure really well. Very positive attitude, not much frustration seen on bad goals or after losses. Look at his stats - he rebounded from poor starts almost every time. Also performed in a different environment as the start for Canada at the WCs.

Is he a flash in the pan?

As a Leafs fan I want to say no, but it's too early to tell and the sample size was too small. All I can say is that he is very solid positionally, has very good mental composure, and stole many games on his own this past season.

[Shoeless]

Show me a sure thing in goal in the NHL and I will probably call him Lundqvist.

Lordie but it's a crap shoot - at the start of last season Thomas was at best a tandem goalie, who was Reimer?, the Habs should never have traded Halak, Crawford was Turco's backup, and Roloson was a veteran back up to Dipietro.

I think all you can do with Reimer is guess. It looks like he should start about 65% of the games for the Leafs and put up decent numbers. Want me to put money on that? No, thanks.

[Chicleteur]

Show me a sure thing in goal in the NHL and I will probably call him Lundqvist.

Lordie but it's a crap shoot - at the start of last season Thomas was at best a tandem goalie, who was Reimer?, the Habs should never have traded Halak, Crawford was Turco's backup, and Roloson was a veteran back up to Dipietro.

I think all you can do with Reimer is guess. It looks like he should start about 65% of the games for the Leafs and put up decent numbers. Want me to put money on that? No, thanks.

Haha!!! But 100% right my friend! Goalie are such a special beast and their damn hard to predict.

I do like what I saw from Reimer this season and I agree that he could become a pretty FH asset in a few years if the Leafs can improve.

[hawkdog]

well put shoeless, and just to add:
Bob wasn't really on the radar.

[DuklaNation]

This is a critical question for most drafts. Is he legit? Will he get 50-60 games next season? I'd say yes to both but there is huge risk in goalies aside from the top tier.

[Big Ev]

I rolled the dice on him. Don't see much else competition in Toronto.

[domal]

Thanks guys for the great insight.
I think I'll roll the dice and stick with him for the season also.
Right now he's my 2nd goalie behind Luongo, so if he does end up developing, then it's to my gain.