Jonathan Bernier traded to Leafs

[Ravin]

The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired goaltender Jonathan Bernier from the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday in exchange for forward Matt Frattin, goaltender Ben Scrivens and Toronto's second round pick in either the 2014 or 2015 NHL Draft.

Bernier, who is eligible to become a restricted free agent on July 5, played in 14 regular season games for the Kings in 2012-13. He posted a record of nine wins, three losses, and a shootout loss while posting one shutout and a goals against average (GAA) of 1.88 and a save percentage of .922. His GAA was the second-lowest mark among all NHL goaltenders. The 24-year-old was 9-0-0 in his first 10 starts in 2012-13 and posted a 1.50 GAA and .938 save percentage during that streak from February 11 to April 4.

"Whenever you like the principle pieces of a deal, we liked their pieces, they liked our piece, it's been ongoing for months," said Kings assistant general manager Ron Hextall.

During the NHL lockout, Bernier played in 13 games for Heilbronner Falken in Germany and he was also a member of Team Canada's 2012 Spengler Cup championship team. He was originally selected by Los Angeles in the first round, 11th overall, in the 2006 Entry Draft.

Bernier was the Los Angeles Kings' nominee for the 2013 Masterton Trophy for displaying the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.

"It's kind of bittersweet for us," added Hextall. "Jonathan's been with us for a long time. He's been a great soldier for us and he's been a very good player for us. Unfortunately, he's stuck behind Jonathan Quick, which is a tough situation for Jon. As a sense of fairness to him, and the timing that we felt was best for the organization, we made the move."

Frattin collected seven goals and six assists in 25 regular season games for the Maple Leafs in 2012-13. The 25-year-old registered two assists in six games against the Bruins in the first round of the 2013 Playoffs. The 25-year-old was selected by the Maple Leafs in the fourth round in 2007 and has 15 goals and 28 points in 82 career games, all with the Maple Leafs.

The 26-year-old Scrivens played 20 games for the Maple Leafs this past season and compiled a record of seven wins and nine losses with two shutouts. In his two years in Toronto, the 26-year-old has an 11-14-2 record with a .910 save percentage and 2.86 goals-against average. Scrivens went undrafted and signed with Toronto after playing four seasons at Cornell University.

This is an amazing signing by the Leafs who get a goalie who comes with no contract and they can work on his terms, save money and lock up a franchise goalie. This kills the Louongo talk and is the best thing for the team as Bernier could easily turn into a franchise #1 goalie.

 

[Kuzzy Powers]

:giveit:

 

[wingsfan77]

Kind of disappointed the Flyers didn't get him, a competition between Mason/Bernier would have been good...oh well.

 

[Ravin]

Kind of disappointed the Flyers didn't get him, a competition between Mason/Bernier would have been good...oh well.

:jonesy:

There would have been no competition. It would have been Bernier starting and Mason backing up.

This is just a great move for the Leafs. Many are saying the Leafs are not confident in Reimer's ability, which I really don't think is the case here. They now have two young goalies, both looking for the starting role, and both capable of getting it. And when it is all said and done, they should end up with a franchise goalie. Plus look at teams around the league, two goalies is starting to become a trending thing. Have to remember the Bernier is a 1st round pick for the Kings, and when you look at what the Leafs gave up, it wasn't much. Scrivens was never going to be the goalie for the team as long as Reimer was there, and Frattin never really did anything that amazing to make him a huge loss on the team.

In the end this will be great goalie competition in Toronto, and I think Bernier will end up winning out. Can't see the Leafs paying him insane amounts of money either until they know he is a starter.

 

[leaffan]

This is going to be another one of those trades much like when JVR for Schenn happened where I'm going to have to sit it out and wait to see the results. Frattins upside is pretty high and he played fairly well this year considering he was hot out of the gate but an injury really wrecked him. Scrivens played fairly well as well but at this point Bernier clearly is better.

Biggest issue I see right now is depth is starting to really slide. The top half of the team is still there but they've now lost Komorov, frattin and possibly Macarthur and bozak although on the flip side if upgrades to those positions where to happen then it wouldn't be a total loss. Defense is still just an utter black hole though and really where a lot of focus needs to be spent this offseason.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

The price of goaltending has really gone down since the lockout a few years ago. A lot of teams are in the same situation that the Kings were with Quick/Bernier, and therefore have little leverage in trade talks. They risk getting nothing, or close to nothing, if they don't make this trade.

As for the Leafs, I really like it. Bernier is likely the guy in net for them, but as Leaf said, this makes their defense really questionable and an area they need to focus on this off-season. I realize that you have to make deals from your strength, but the Leafs as far as I know were pretty damn good defensively heading into last off-season, and they've dealt that all away to the point of it being a black hole.

 

[leaffan]

The price of goaltending has really gone down since the lockout a few years ago. A lot of teams are in the same situation that the Kings were with Quick/Bernier, and therefore have little leverage in trade talks. They risk getting nothing, or close to nothing, if they don't make this trade.

As for the Leafs, I really like it. Bernier is likely the guy in net for them, but as Leaf said, this makes their defense really questionable and an area they need to focus on this off-season. I realize that you have to make deals from your strength, but the Leafs as far as I know were pretty damn good defensively heading into last off-season, and they've dealt that all away to the point of it being a black hole.

They didn't really deal anything away its just they have a bunch of AHLers playing NHL roles. The biggest need the team needs is some proper depth and expierence on defense and a number 1 center.

On the flip side of it I'm begining to wonder if they want to start rolling in some of the youth that Burke drafted.

 

[wr50l]

Two young, talented goalies competing for the starting spot will hopefully (for the Leafs) push them both on to be better. Leafs hype is typically insane though. Reimer is the more proven goalie so far, but Leaf nation thinks it's got itself a huge upgrade.