James Reimer: Goalie of the Future?

James Reimer is enjoying a lockout shortened season this year. Despite an injury early on, Reimer has managed to play consistent and has a winning record with a .917 % and a 2.71 GAA in sixteen games with the Leafs. On top of that his stellar play has silenced Luongo trade rumours and the Leafs are very close to making the playoffs for the first time. Yet despite all this there are still some questions on whether he is a number one goaltender.

Reimer is in his third season as a National Hockey League goaltender but has yet to surpass the fifty win mark and has never played more than thirty-seven games in a season. Not to mention he’s been sidelined by injuries in consecutive years. Also the Leafs have currently fallen into a five game losing streak and Reimer has failed to step up and win them a game.

One thing that could benefit Reimer is if the Leafs make the playoffs for the first time since 2004. James has a history of being an elite goalie in the playoffs going back to 2009 where he was named MVP of the ECHL playoffs when he won the Kelly Cup with the South Carolina Stingrays. A solid playoff performance could justify him being the go to guy next year and could give him something to build on in the off season.

Reimer is a good goalie in a short amount of games but there are still doubts on whether he can stay healthy and play consistently for an eighty-two game season. If the Leafs stick with their current goaltending tandem next year it’ll be an interesting test to see if Reimer can play sixty or more games, and keep his save percentage around the same mark as this year.