Toronto Maple Leafs: What to Do with Ben Scrivens?

If there was any doubt before as to Ben Scrivens' NHL-readiness, there shouldn't be any remaining now that the Toronto Marlies are in the AHL Calder Cup's Western Conference Finals due to Scrivens' strong play over the past four weeks.

He is currently 8-2 in these Calder Cup playoffs with two of those wins being shutouts. His goals-against-average is a phenomenal 1.69 while his save percentage is an equally impressive  0.941.

The Marlies dominated the Oklahoma City Barons in Game 1 by a score of 5-0, but the Barons came right back in Game 2 to tie the series with a commanding 5-1 victory.

The series appears to be evenly matched, but even if the Marlies end up losing, this year's playoff run will prove to be an invaluable experience for not just the goalie Scrivens, but many of his young NHL-bound teammates that include Nazem Kadri and Matt Frattin.

Like Kadri and Frattin, Scrivens has little left to prove at the AHL level.

In a dozen games at the NHL level during the 2011-12 season, Scrivens only posted four wins, but showed he had the hockey chops and the mental strength to play and stick in the NHL.

It will be an injustice if the kid doesn't have a full-time NHL gig for the 2012-13 season.

The question is whether he'll be the backup goalie for the Toronto Maple Leafs or for another NHL team.

Jonas Gustavsson, the Leafs' backup/1B goalie, appears to be finished in Toronto.

The brass is still high on James Reimer, but to most Toronto fans, it would be unacceptable to head into the 2012-13 season with a goaltending tandem of Reimer and Scrivens.

A good-case scenario for the Leafs this summer would be to land a quality young goaltender like Cory Schneider of the Vancouver Canucks.

Regardless of which player is brought in to serve as the starting goaltender, assuming one is indeed brought in, one of Reimer and Scrivens will have to leave town.

It will be tough to part ways with either of them, but the idea of trading one of them to acquire a legitimate starting goaltender or a higher selection in the upcoming draft is enticing.