Moves and Non-Moves

Some quick thoughts on something that happened with the Maple Leafs, and something that didn't happen.

Dallas Eakins signed a three-year deal to coach the AHL Marlies, with the deal locked in for at least one season. That means he can't go anywhere until the summer of 2013 at the earliest.

Obviously, Eakins has proven his value at the AHL and is a promising coach. To be able to keep him for at least one more year is a boon to the franchise and is evidence the team is committed to not only drafting players but developing them at the AHL level as well.

Also, there's a strong possibility some or all of the next NHL season will be lost to labour strife. So the Marlies, theoretically, might start out next season with players like Nazem Kadri, Jake Gardiner, Matt Frattin (once healed from knee problems) and Ben Scrivens in their lineup, so you want to have as strong a program in place as possible to maintain the potential for those players to grow even while NHLers are idle.

For Eakins, there probably isn't a perfect NHL job to land at the moment. He loves Toronto, his wife works here, and for now this is working a minor-league job in a major league city. Not a bad deal, and he's going to get his NHL shot at some point. Best to be choosy, if possible.

The Leafs didn't sign Tomas Vokoun for goaltending insurance. Pittsburgh traded for his rights from Washington and then signed him to be Marc-Andre Fleury's backup next season. That means Brent Johnson, a UFA on July 1st, will be moving on.

It's the kind of move many believe the Leafs will be making to add some veteran goaltending insurance to their roster. Vokoun, at 35, is not the perfect guy - he was injured, then lost his job in Washington to Braden Holtby - but he was one possibility. The Leafs, in fact, looked at him last summer but were disinclined to offer a two-year contract.

There's quite a few other UFA goalies coming on the market. The best for the Leafs might be Scott Clemmensen, who they've had before, and played very well for Florida both this year and in the playoffs. Clemmensen is a solid citizen who might be the perfect and very affordable stabilizing element while the Leafs continue to evaluate the progress of Scrivens and James Reimer. A similar choice might be Johan Hedberg of the Devils, although he's 39, while Clemmensen is 34.

That, of course, is one of the issues at hand if the Leafs were to try and swing a deal for Roberto Luongo. They'd essentially be writing off the futures of Reimer and Scrivens as possible starting goalies because Luongo would take the position for at least the next five years.