SIMMONS SAYS: Sergei Bobrovsky needs to rediscover his sense of timing

The Maple Leafs need some Grant Fuhr in their No. 1 goaltender.

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Wayne Gretzky rarely hesitates when asked to name the greatest goaltender of all time.

He doesn’t make the obvious choices such as Dominik Hasek, Patrick Roy, or Martin Brodeur, or the legendary picks such as Ken Dryden, Glenn Hall or Jacques Plante.

He sticks with his former teammate, Grant Fuhr, who he happened to win four Stanley Cups and two Canada Cups playing alongside.

The reason he loves Fuhr: The timing of his big saves. He never had the best goals-against average, the best save percentage or the best of any statistic. But he made the save when it mattered most.

He made the stop in the third period of a high-scoring tie game that changed the outcome.

Sergei Bobrovsky was known for having some Fuhr in him as he took the Florida Panthers to three consecutive Stanley Cup finals and two straight championships. He would, his coaches will tell you, let in a bad goal early in many games and then take a few back in the third period at the most dramatic of moments.

His teammates came to love him for that. His sense of timing. His feel in a close game.

But not this season, to date, with the Toronto Maple Leafs. What has made Bobrovsky special in the past has gone missing in his first 10 starts with the Leafs. His goals-against average isn’t particularly terrible — considering the state of the Leafs defence — and his save percentage is so-so at the time when those particular numbers are dropping everywhere. But the big stop — the one he didn’t make in Seattle on Wednesday night — hasn’t been there.

The Leafs have invested $21 million for three seasons of an aging Bobrovsky. It’s too early to worry that he’s in decline. But it’s early enough for absolute concern.

The Leafs need some Fuhr in their No. 1 goaltender. And they need it now.

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Nikita Kucherov always has been considered something of a hockey savant. He does things no one else can do. He is a closed book that says little and few have gotten to know him in his brilliant string in the National Hockey League. The bomb that dropped Friday night — that Kucherov wants to be traded, which really means he wants a lot more money than the Tampa Bay Lightning is offering the pending free agent — was rather stunning. So was the timing. On Thursday night, the Lightning honoured Kucherov for becoming the career leading scorer in franchise history. He was his usual uncomfortable self as the video played. The next night, someone, likely his agent Dan Millstein, leaked that he wanted out. Kucherov has won two Hart Trophies and two Stanley Cups in his brilliant time with Tampa Bay. The Lightning says it won’t trade him. One piece of truth: No Hart Trophy winner has ever been traded the season after winning the award. Kucherov is deserving of the $20-million number that seems to be floating around for the best players in hockey. Because of lack of state taxes, Tampa Bay rarely pays its players what others make around the league. They may be forced to do so here … Kucherov, by the way, is off to a slow start for him … Before the season began, I would not have placed Auston Matthews among the top 10 players in the NHL. Now, nearing the first quarter of games, he would be in my top five … It’s no surprise to see the Edmonton Oilers among the worst penalty-killing teams in the league. That’s something that has moved around with Mike Babcock. In his three playoff series losses in Toronto, the Leafs penalty-killing was so inept it probably cost them each of those first-round series … No surprise to see Gavin McKenna having success on the power play play early in his first season. It reminds me of Yvan Cournoyer in his early years in Montreal. Cournoyer scored 41 of his first 54 goals with the man advantage.

This is an historic season of sorts for William Nylander. He has passed George Armstrong, Frank Mahovlich and Rick Vaive in career Toronto goal-scoring through the first 15 games. He is not far away from passing Armstrong and Tomas Kaberle in assists and should move into fifth in points this season, passing Armstrong, Mitch Marner and Borje Salming. By the end of this campaign, assuming good health, Nylander should be fifth in Leafs scoring behind Mats Sundin, Darryl Sittler, Dave Keon and Matthews. And he’s not the kind of guy you think of as an all-time great … A question was asked of me this week that I’ve been asked before: Should Vaive’s name be raised to the rafters at Scotiabank Arena? He did scored 50 goals in three straight seasons, the first Leaf to do so. The challenge in answering: Vaive never played for a Leafs team that won more games than it lost. You can make a case for him, and a case against him … Being in the Atlantic Division is a tough place if the Leafs goaltending doesn’t get better. Tampa Bay has Andrei Vasilevskiy, Boston has Jeremy Swayman, Montreal has the fine rookie Jacob Fowler, Ottawa has Linus Ullmark. Only five teams, maximum, can qualify for the playoffs out of the Atlantic … Drew Doughty took a shot at Leafs coach Jim Hiller — and previous coaches with the Los Angeles Kings — when he pointed out how his teams had never practised 3-on-3 hockey before this season with Peter Laviolette now coaching … Also off to quiet starts: Sidney Crosby, Macklin Celebrini, Alex Ovechkin, Robert Thomas, Wyatt Johnston and Sam Reinhart.

As ridiculous as the Milwaukee Brewers bullpen was in their team’s World Series victory, it wasn’t as dominant as the Blue Jays bullpen happened to be in 1992. People seem to forget about that. The Brewers pen pitched 24.1 innings in the 2026 Series and gave up four earned runs for an ERA of 1.47. The Jays bullpen of Tom Henke, Duane Ward, Mike Timlin, Jimmy Key, Todd Stottlemyre, Mark Eichhorn and David Wells pitched 18.1 innings against the Atlanta Braves in ’92, yielding one earned run for an ERA of 0.49 … It’s rather remarkable, in retrospect, that the Jays won the World Series the following year after Henke, Key and Wells left the club and Stottlemyre was moved back to the starting rotation. The Jays bullpen in the ’93 series had an ERA of 5.57. But that was still a lot better than the Philadelphia ’pen, which gave up 19 earned runs in 19 innings, including a famous home run … It’s not often the same team dominates the regular season, the early playoffs and then the World Series. There have been few World Series champions as complete wire-to-wire as this year’s Brewers … So what’s your guess on when we next see baseball? The lockout appears to be 30 days away. It’s just a guess, but I’m figuring for an opening day around June 1 and hoping for the best … So many online pundits have the Blue Jays signing free-agent outfielder Seiya Suzuki, who hit 58 home runs the past two seasons for the Chicago Cubs.

On Media Day, Kawhi Leonard proudly announced he was in great shape and ready for the season. The next day, he did not take part in the Raptors’ first practice at Quebec City. This is what you get with the new Kawhi: More words, more smiles, more fiction …. Here’s betting, now that’s he’s injured again and gone from Toronto, that he won’t play another game until December … The worst part about Jakob Poeltl’s contract: He’s set to be paid $27 million next year and $29 million the year after that. That’s a lot of money for a statue … So-so start of the Raptors. They got blasted by the only good team they’ve played and should have won all of the other four games. They won three … Ernie Johnson is retiring from Inside The NBA. He has become like part of the family over the years. Solid, comfortable, funny, completely in charge. Like your favourite uncle … The court of arbitration for sport has voted to allow Russia back in international hockey competitions. Almost every hockey nation on Earth has gone public and disagreed with the ruling. USA Hockey, however, has yet to say anything on the matter. You probably know why … I really don’t understand the Dylan Larkin 10-team trade list. At least half of the teams he seems to have identified don’t have room on their roster for a Larkin kind of deal … How is it that Mike Miller wasn’t a finalist for coach of the year in the CFL when three of nine coaches are nominated? His Argos didn’t play a home game until August and they still made the playoffs … Edmonton’s Mark Kilam is the clear choice to win the award … Not sure why the Argos would announce the big-time contract extension of quarterback Chad Kelly just a few days before their playoff game against Winnipeg. Sure it’s decent marketing on the Argos part before a home playoff game, but it put an unnecessary pressure on Kelly to meet the $1 million a year that he’s about to be paid. Kelly was just so-so in the Argos’ 25-22 loss to Winnipeg in Saturday’s Eastern semifinal before getting hurt at the end of the third quarter … The contract, by itself, begins a new plane for CFL salaries … John Candy would have been 76 today; Brian Piccolo would have been would been 83; Al Arbour would have been 94. And a happy birthday to Tie Domi (57), Antonio Davis (58), Fred McGriff (63), Gary Player (91), Nick Foligno (39), Mats Naslund (67), Stuart Skinner (28), Stephen Vogt (42) and Artur Akhtyamov (25) … And hey, whatever became of Michael Bishop?

(Steve Simmons is Canada’s longest-serving sports columnist)

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