James Reimer

Reimer, 32, enters a contract year after serving as Petr Mrazek's backup for most of the 2019-20 season, finishing with 14 wins in 25 appearances and another two wins in three starts in the playoffs. Despite his relatively strong performance, Reimer again enters the 2020-21 season as the backup, though there's a chance Reimer's strong play or Mrazek's inconsistency could force the Hurricanes into an even-split timeshare; otherwise, expect Reimer to get his usual workload. The Hurricanes have a talented offense and a deep defense, so the opportunity for Reimer to rack up double-digit wins and keep his five-year streak going is pretty good. He should be in high demand as a streaming option on the waiver wire unless he wins the starting job.

Reimer was traded to the Hurricanes this past offseason after another disappointing campaign for the Panthers. After posting a 2.53 GAA in the first season of a five-year deal with Florida, Reimer has fallen on hard times with 2.99 and 3.09 marks in the past two seasons. He's no lock to make Carolina's roster with Petr Mrazek and youngster Alex Nedlejkovic also on hand in net, though Reimer would likely benefit from playing behind Carolina's strong defense corps should he lock down a roster spot.

Although Reimer is technically the No. 2 goaltender in Florida, he's actually appeared in more games in each of the last two seasons than starter Roberto Luongo. He played in a career-high 44 contests last year, registering a 2.99 GAA and .913 save percentage alongside a 22-14-6 record. If Luongo is healthy, he should continue seeing a bulk of the starts in net, but Reimer has performed well enough recently to carve out a bigger role. His fantasy value still depends almost entirely on Luongo, though; he likely won't see enough time to warrant a roster spot in standard leagues as the backup.

Signed to serve as the backup, Reimer appeared in a career-high 43 games last season thanks to Roberto Luongo missing time to injury and not excelling when healthy. Indeed, Reimer outplayed his elder ever so slightly, recording an 18-16-5 record and posting slightly better ratios with a .920 save percentage and 2.53 GAA. Although Luongo is still expected to be the No. 1 goalie entering 2017-18, the silver lining is that the 38-year-old isn't capable of serving as a workhorse anymore, which means Reimer should see at least 30 starts, if not more. Reimer has never really shown he’s capable of being a No. 1, but he’s certainly one of the most experienced and reliable backups out there.

Concerns about Roberto Luongo’s health and Reto Berra’s ability prompted the Panthers to hand a five-year deal to Reimer, who is the favorite for early-season starts while Luongo recovers from hip surgery. The inconsistent netminder failed to live up to unrealistically high expectations with the Leafs, but flashed tremendous upside after being liberated from Toronto via trade by the Sharks, with whom he posted a 1.62 GAA over eight starts. Reimer will at the very least spell the aging Luongo often if he performs well in the veteran’s absence, but there’ll be plenty of pressure to prove that the short stint in San Jose wasn’t an aberration.

Optimus Reims enters camp to an "open competition" for the role of starter. Or at least that’s what new general manager Lou Lamoriello was mouthing over the summer. Reimer is a real battler and his teammates really like him, but he’ll need to improve dramatically on his 9-16-1 record, 3.16 GAA and .907 save percentage from 2014-15 to even get 35 games of action this season. New goalie coach Steve Briere could potentially help change Reimer from a battler to a thinker, particularly with his focus on statistical approaches to analyzing games and working on sports vision training. But at the end of the day, Reimer is just a really, really good NHL backup, and he should be drafted as such.

Reimer kissed and made up with Leafs management over the summer and signed a two-year contract extension in July. He even said he was told he has a "definite opportunity" to win the starter's job in camp. Realistically, Reimer's contract makes him valuable trade bait because Jonathan Bernier is the superior netminder. Reimer does somehow manage to stop pucks when he gets enough starts, but he really struggles to find his groove when he's not getting No. 1 minutes. He'll need to seriously improve on his 12-16-1 record, 3.29 GAA and .911 save percentage to get a real shot in Toronto. We just don't put much faith in him when it comes to our fantasy squad or yours, at least when he's wearing blue and white. But somewhere else, like Winnipeg? You might start to see the potential.

Reimer's world changed in the blink of an eye … or a trade, in this case. Enter former Kings' hotshot back-up, Jonathan Bernier, and Reimer's so-called lock on the starter's gig disappeared. Now, the Leafs' brass is saying all the right things and insisting the two men have an equal shot to be number one. But Reimer is at a distinct disadvantage in the fight. He's a blocker, not a stopper like Bernier. And his athleticism isn't as great. Reimer's glove hand is suspect, but if he's one thing, he's a battler. He will not go down without a fight, but a platoon will be the best-case scenario for him. Worst case? He's locked into a heavy-rotation back-up who sees 35-40 percent of the starts. Unfortunately, his fantasy value is as a handcuff at this point. Sorry, keeper owners.

Is Optimus Reims healthy? The Leafs sure hope so. Last season looked promising until that fateful hit to the head from wee Brian Gionta. Apparently, the injury wasn't really a concussion, but a neck injury. However, it clouded his whole season, literally and figuratively. The haze has apparently cleared this offseason and he's champing at the bit to prove he's worthy of the top job in the Big Smoke. We'll see. General Manager Brian Burke has said he's okay with a Reimer-Ben Scrivens pairing, but he'd previously said his top priority was a starting goalie. Use caution on draft day ... and every day after that. Roberto Luongo rumors just won't go away and the last thing you need is a back-up goalie in your stable.

Reimer enters the season entrenched as the Leafs' top dog. His ascent to that spot was nothing short of miraculous considering he'd never boasted a .920 save percentage in his three years in junior and he spent almost all of the 2008-09 season in the East Coast league. He's big (6-2, 210) and fast, and he demonstrates an unflappable, easy-going demeanor that allows him to shake off bad goals and bad games with ease. Best of all, his mates love playing in front of him and seem to draw energy from every save he makes. Last season's 20 wins should grow to 30 as long as there's no sophomore skid. We don't foresee one but he is only 23 and stranger things have happened to far more touted twinetenders.

Reimer used to be the Leafs' top netminding prospect; that was until they signed Finnish phenom Jussi Rynnas. Reimer is big, plays his angles well and turned a lot of heads last season with a 14-8-2 record, 2.25 goals-against average and .925 save percentage. He and Rynnas will split games with the Marlies; pretty soon, we'll know who's the next one.

Reimer's 16-7 record, 2.85 GAA and .917 save percentage in the ECHL last season catapulted him ahead of Justin Pogge on the depth chart. Pogge is gone and it'll be Reimer and Joey MacDonald splitting time with the AHL Marlies. Keep an eye on him.