Things are going well in Leaf land right now.
The Maple Leafs just completed a three game sweep of their usually dreaded California road trip, and as a result sit just one point out of first place in the entire NHL. The team is young, fast, skilled, and the best it's been in most of our lifetimes.
With all of the hype surrounding the NHL club and with the prospect pool lacking an Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, or William Nylander type, it's easy to forget about the many Maple Leaf prospects around the world. As a result, some teenagers that would have made this fanbase very excited a few years ago are now rarely even talked about.
One prospect that is deserving of more attention from fans is 19 year old netminder Ian Scott. The 2017 4th round draft choice of the Maple Leafs is off to an incredible start with the surging Prince Albert Raiders in the Western Hockey League, and while most fans have seen the clip of his goal on Friday night, his historically phenominal goaltending needs some more love.
Relative to his Peers
If you compare Ian Scott's numbers to his peers this season, the results are absolutley bonkers.
Here is a complete list of goaltending stats Scott leads the WHL in: Save Percentage (.950), Goals Against Average (1.39), Wins (17), Shutouts (4), and of couse, Goals (1).
He's also allowed the fewest amount of goals (25) of all WHL goaltenders with over 500 minutes played in 2018/19.
While the importance of some of these stats can be debated and some of them are largely a result of the team he plays for, it is undeniable that leading the league in every goaltending stat that they keep track of is very good, and they're the best stats we've got for evaluting junior-level goalies.
To put his .950 Sv% into context, the league average save percentage in the WHL so far this season is .902. A .902 Sv% on 497 shots against (the number of shots Scott has faced this season) equates to 49 goals against. Scott has allowed just 25 goals, meaning that he has saved 24(!!) goals more than a league average goalie would be expected to stop. That is absolute insanity.
League History
When you take a look back through history, these numbers keep looking better and better for Scott. For as long as the WHL website has recorded goaltender stats (since the 1996/97 season), no starting goaltender has EVER matched or eclipsed Scott's .950 save percentage. Flyers' prospect Carter Hart has came the closest, with a .947 save percentage last season. Also, Scott's over halfway there to setting the league shutout record. He has four, and the league record of 7 was set during the 2004/05 season by Tyson Sexsmith. It was also tied last season by the aforementioned Carter Hart.
Obviously, he's only played 18 games so far this season and it'll be incedibly hard to sustain this level of play over an entire season, but unless Scott significantly regresses it looks like he's on track to have an incredibly solid season.
How Does This Affect the Leafs?
And now for the most important question of all: How does this affect the Leafs? Well, I'm not sure it really will, at least for a few more years, but it does affect the Marlies.
Toronto's rights to Scott expire this offseason. It should be a no-brainer to reward Scott for his strong play with an entry-level contract. Assuming the Marlies outlast the Raiders this season, Scott (once signed) will be eligible to play for the Marlies. As we know, they're a team that could use some help in net at the moment, so if Scott does end up joining them at some point he could be a nice boost for them between the pipes.
It's not always easy for a junior goalie to make the jump to the AHL right away (just ask Carter Hart, who's got an .884 SV% in 9 AHL games this season), but every goalie is different, and I'm sure that if the Marlies' goaltending woes continue they'd at least want to see what Scott is capable of. They did at the end of last season, as Scott got to make a start for them late in the season and remain with the team until the Calder Cup was won.
If not this season, Scott should have every opportunity to make the Marlies in 2019/20, and we'll see what happens from there.
Conclusion
To wrap it up, the emergance of Ian Scott has been a fun storyline to watch this season, and here's to hoping he can keep up his amazing play. It would be quite nice if the Leafs have something here, although as we all know, goalies are voodoo and anything can happen.