James Reimer Has Been Toronto Maple Leafs' MVP This Season

There aren’t player awards in the NHL for MVP’s of each team, but if you are analyzing the Toronto Maple Leafs, one would have to say that the award has to go to goaltender James Reimer.

Reimer’s confidence appeared to be destroyed after an infamous Game 7 loss to the Boston Bruins, and he showed signs that he could not even stop a beach ball. Last year, he won only nine of his 27 starts and the year before that he won 12 of his 32 starts. Fans lucky enough to attend games at the Air Canada Centre would give sarcastic cheers at each save Reimer made. This season, under new head coach Mike Babcock, Reimer’s confidence appears to have returned. Since stepping in and becoming the new No. 1 goalie while Jonathan Bernier recovers from his injuries, Reimer has won three of the team’s last six starts. He’s started nine games and been between the pipes for each victory thus far in the 2015-16 campaign.

Of course, that is not saying much as the team currently has a record of 4-8-4, but the fact that Reimer’s value could not be any higher than it is right now shows that he is indeed capable of being the top netminder in Toronto. It also improves Toronto’s odds that if a playoff bound team is looking for a goaltender, the Maple Leafs could say that they have a capable man for the job if anyone matches their price.

There are still a lot of issues on this hockey club, but at least in the short term, Reimer has turned some heads and shown that he is a capable NHL goaltender.