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The Toronto Maple Leafs goaltending situation is set in stone for the first time in a very long while. Heading into the 2016-17 season, Frederik Anderson is the clear number one and Jonas Enroth has arrived explicitly embracing the role of back-up.

After recent signings, what is less clear is who will be tending the twine for the Toronto Marlies. With the Toronto Marlies and Orlando Solar Bears camps both set to begin in early October, there are many balls in the air and much to sort out in a short time period.

New additions

Two additions have somewhat clouded the situation, with the Leafs signing Jeff Glass on a PTO and Orlando penning former Miami University (Ohio) netminder, Jay Williams.

The vibe coming out of Orlando is that the Solar Bears are high on 26-year-old Ryan Massa and are confident he will fill the hole vacated by the recently-retired Rob Madore. After a promising rookie season that included a single outing and victory with the Marlies, Massa should not be overlooked in the overall conversation. In 37 games, his .915 save percentage was 15th best in the ECHL. The 19 wins and two shutouts accrued were both single season records by a Solar Bears rookie goaltender.

Williams is three years Massa’s junior and was a part of the Washington Capitals Development camp held this past summer.

Jeff Glass is an unknown quantity as Leafs camp is set to open in Halifax in a couple of days. It seems a safe bet that the 30-year-old is just a warm body to make up the numbers — Jhonas Enroth is with Team Sweden at the World Cup of Hockey, Frederik Andersen picked up an injury competing for Denmark in Olympic qualifiers and may play a limited part in camp — but he wouldn’t be the first player to make an impact during pre-season and earn himself a contract. As an experienced and not-untalented performer — as recently shown in the KHL — it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that Glass is offered an AHL deal, although it would contradict the organization’s recent approach of signing and developing younger goaltenders. While unlikely, if signed Glass would make it six goaltenders fighting it out for four spots in the minors.

Crease Battles: Sparks, Bibeau and Kaskisuo

It’s generally perceived that Garret Sparks and Antoine Bibeau will once more battle for the Marlies number one position, with Kasimir Kaskisuo likely headed to Orlando for playing time. Recent history should steer us away from assuming positions are set in stone. During the lead-up to the 2014-15 season, then-rookie Antoine Bibeau beat out Sparks for a spot on the Marlies, leaving the latter to spend the majority of his year in Orlando while Christopher Gibson held the reigns as the Marlies number one.

The amount of competition at the goalie position means that all camps, beginning with the recent rookie tournament this past weekend, have taken on greater significance. Kasimir Kaskisuo (two starts) and Antoine Bibeau (one) were given first dibs at making an initial strong impression in London last weekend.

Kaskisuo performed well in game one — within a few minutes of deserved shutout — and was far from his best in game three, but we shouldn’t read too much into these performances. I’m more inclined to focus on his two starts late last season for the Marlies, both on the road in Syracuse. In the first, he allowed a goal from Jonathan Drouin and two powerplay markers but recorded 26 stops to ensure a 4-3 victory. Eight days later, though Kaskisuo faced less rubber, a number of grade A+ scoring chances forced the Finnish netminder to make a collection of very tough saves and a shootout loss was less than the 23-year-old deserved. The characteristic that struck me most during Kasikisuo’s short end-of-year Marlie stint was the calm and composed nature for a goaltender playing his first pro games fresh out of college behind what was a depleted Marlies team at the time.

Antoine Bibeau, in the last year of his entry-level contract, is pegged by many as the Leafs‘ current number four. As we enter a new campaign on the back of disappointing playoff performances from both himself and Sparks, I’m not entirely sure that’s the case. Let’s not forget that the Quebec native earned the call from Sheldon Keefe when the chips were down in the AHL playoffs over the NHL-experienced Sparks. It was only when Sparks was called up to the Leafs that Bibeau excelled last season, seemingly revelling in the security of being the uncontested number one for a spell. He’ll need to perform to the same level when under pressure from internal competition if he’s to claim that position once again.

The highest pressure and shortest leash appears to be on Garret Sparks. Signed to a one-year, two-way contract, Sparks knows he has to show himself to be the third-best goaltender in the organization at worst in order to remain in Toronto past this season. Two shutouts and eights wins in his first eleven starts last season were eventually followed by a shutout on debut for the Leafs. What proceeded from there was a tale of inconsistency and too many individually poor performances. With Leafs brass likely to take a look at fringe players at some point during the season, especially following the trade deadline (let’s not forget Jhonas Enroth could be flipped given his one-year contract), the carrot has been dangled for a goaltender who has seen his career punctuated by highs and lows thus far.