Report: The Maple Leafs could be interested in signing Tomas Vokoun

On Friday morning the agent for free agent goalie Tomas Vokoun said that his client wants to remain in the NHL and is not interested in signing a deal with a KHL team at this time.

It didn't take long for us to start getting our first reports of teams that could have an interest in signing the veteran netminder.

According to a report from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun on Sunday, the Maple Leafs could be interested in making a play for Vokoun if the organization doesn't want to get into a bidding war for Vancouver's Roberto Luongo.

From Simmons:

On the day before he signed with the Washington Capitals last summer, a representative of Tomas Vokoun called the Maple Leafs and inquired about whether there was interest in the free-agent goaltender.

The Leafs said they had none.

Now, in fact, they have a different view. Vokoun is among the goaltenders the Leafs have targeted as they head towards the NHL draft and looming free agency. And while it may not seem like the most ambitious of pursuits by the Leafs, it represents a nice, and relatively inexpensive Plan B, should the Leafs determine they can't or won't go after the very available Roberto Luongo.

It shouldn't come as a surprise at this point that Toronto didn't have any interest in signing Vokoun this past summer. Outside of Detroit and Washington (the team he eventually signed a one-year, $1.5 million deal with), nobody seemed to have any interest in the veteran goalie, which was why the Capitals were able to get him for such a small price. Of course, as I pointed out on Friday, that makes you wonder how much of a market there will be for him this summer as he's a year older (he turns 36 on July 2) and coming off one of his worst performances in recent years.

Still, even though his play regressed a bit in Washington, he would still represent a pretty significant upgrade in net for Toronto, a team that should be absolutely desperate for any sort of competent goaltending. The Maple Leafs have consistently been among the worst goaltending teams in the NHL since the start of the 2005-06 season, and getting even league-average production would do wonders for their ability to remain even somewhat competitive in the Eastern Conference.

Just look at their performance in net compared to the league average (and Vokoun) over the past seven seasons.


Terrible.

Vokoun wouldn't represent a long-term solution in net, but for a year or two he would at least be a short-term answer that could give the Maple Leafs a chance on most nights.

All too often this past season the Maple Leafs were basically starting games down a goal (or two), spotting teams early leads due to the lack of quality play in net.

They need an upgrade, and Vokoun will not only be available, he shouldn't break the bank financially and wouldn't require them to give up anything in return.

Seems like an obvious match.

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