Someone has to fill the net alongside returning goalie Jack Campbell for the Maple Leafs. Could it be a very familiar face? Insider Trading says maybe.

On the Tuesday, June 29 edition of Insider Trading, Pierre LeBrun had interesting news. He said that there is a chance that Frederik Andersen will return to the Leafs. This comes from Andersen’s agent, Claude Lemieux, who is being very open about what’s going on, and isn’t hiding behind anonymous calls to the media. LeBrun in full:

There is a chance that he stays, which in itself is a bit surprising. [Most people] felt after  the season, he was for sure headed to free agency, which could still happen. But Claude Lemieux, the agent for Frederik Andersen told me on this day that he spoke with Leafs management on Monday and the question they got from the Leafs was, “Is Freddie Andersen interested in potentially re-signing and staying put?” And the answer was yes.

As Lebrun goes on to say, the cap situation is the real issue, but he does say that “sharing the net with Jack Campbell is something Andersen would be ready to do.”

So what does this mean that the Leafs initiated this conversation? I think it means they’re looking for a goalie who is “ready to share” the net for the right price. This will absolutely come down to how low will Andersen go.

What does it mean that Lemieux just put this out there in public with his name attached? Maybe he’s trying to drive up the price for Andersen, or test the market to see if anyone cares that he said this. That might help them make a decision on how to approach the Leafs on price.

There are a lot of UFA goalies out there, and the expansion draft always shakes things up, but finding a goalie who is some measure above a backup, but isn’t too expensive is really difficult. The Canadiens paid $2.875 million for the future years of Jake Allen after trading for him, and that’s the kind of sweet deal the Leafs want in a second goalie.

Would Andersen sign for $3 million or less, which is the Leafs’ realistic price range? We’ll, as the saying goes, see where this goes.