Maple Leafs, Penguins, Rangers and Preds trying to sign young goaltender.

It appears as though a young goaltender from the Ontario Hockey League is turning a lot of heads in the National Hockey League, so much so that there now seems to be a significant amount of competition for his services.

On Saturday night NHL analyst Jeff Marek revealed that the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Nashville Predators are all frontrunners for the services of 21 year old netminder Mack Guzda.

"There is a young man by the name of Matt Guzda, he is an over age netminder, plays for the Barrie Colts of the OHL and that is someone that the Maple Leafs are very much trying to sign," said Marek on Saturday night. "Their pursuit I'm told is very aggressive. They met with the netminder this week I believe on Thursday, but they are not the only team trying to sign this netminder who is having a great season in the OHL. The Penguins, the Rangers, the Preds are all considered frontrunners but also the Islanders, Ducks and Carolina Hurricanes are said to be interested. This netminder is by the way from Knoxville, Tennessee."

As Marek said Guzda is currently playing for the Barrie Colts of the OHL and is indeed in the middle of having a breakout season for that franchise. Over the course of 13 games this season for the Colts, Guzda has recorded a 1.89 goals against average and a .935 save percentage as well as a pair of shutouts in the process. No doubt this has played a major role in the interest he is suddenly drawing from teams across the NHL and it will be very interesting to see where he eventually signs considering just how much interest there seems to be.

For those who haven't followed Guzda's career in the OHL, this season is a significant improvement. Last season as a member of the Owen Sound attack he recorded a 3.20 goals against average and a .915 save percentage over 10 games, and that time around he failed to record a shutout. Whether or not he will be able to maintain the level he has shown this season remains to be seen.