James Reimer Statistics & Scouting Report

James Reimer Scouting Report by Gus Katsaros and Ryan Dadoun

Reimer took the city by storm with his superb play in the second half of the 2010-11 campaign and earned a three-year, $5.4 million contract extension. He entered last season as the clear starting goaltender and the Leafs saw it fit to give him the reigns without a veteran backup for guidance. The then 23-year-old netminder didn’t get much of a chance to live up to the incredibly high expectations thrust upon him before he became sidelined with concussion-like symptoms in late October after a Brian Gionta shot to the head. He never got his season back on track after that and only played in one game in January before he finally got the starting job back. The former fourth-round pick finished with a 14-14-4 record, 3.10 GAA, and .900 save percentage in 34 starts. At his core, Reimer is a competitive and disciplined butterfly goaltender. The Morweena, Manitoba native is agile and has a great reaction time, allowing him to ward off secondary shots. He’s capable of shaking off a poor goal or even a disappointing game and moving forward. His positioning is solid, he defends especially well against low shots, and his glove hand shouldn’t be underestimated. He doesn’t often stray far from the crease and sometimes attackers are able to exploit that. He’s more mobile when it comes to moving side-to-side. Reimer will be given a chance to shake off his rough sophomore campaign and serve as the team’s number one moving forward.