The Toronto Maple Leafs have managed to avoid arbitration with James Reimer by signing him to a two-year, $4.6 million contract, per CBC’s Elliotte Friedman.
The question now is if Reimer will stay in Toronto until the completion of that deal. Reimer’s tenure with the Maple Leafs has been something of a mixed bag. He’s been the team’s starter for various stretches over the last four seasons and was a big factor in the team making the playoffs in 2013 with his 2.46 GAA and .924 save percentage.
He’s been inconsistent though and Toronto hedged its bets when it acquired Jonathan Bernier from the Los Angeles Kings in the summer of 2013. The idea was that Bernier would compete for the starting job against Reimer, but Reimer struggled last season and finished with a 3.29 GAA and .911 save percentage in 36 contests.
With Bernier expected to start the 2014-15 campaign as the team’s number one goaltender, Reimer reportedly requested a trade last month. Maple Leafs GM Dave Nonis has since said that “by and large, what we have right now is what we’re going to start with.”