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TORONTO – This might be the worst stretch of Jonathan Berniers brief and mostly impressive career as a Maple Leaf. Over his last 10 starts Bernier holds an unflattering .891 save percentage, both he and his teammates sliding in a stretch that looks like it will cost the club yet another playoff berth. Bernier feels like hes just been off by the slightest margin, not quite awful, just not good enough to rescue his team from the failure of 14 defeats in 17 games. You just need that one extra save, he said. I dont feel like my game has been that bad, I just need to make that one extra big save to keep the team in it. Though sputtering recently, Bernier is one of the few solid foundations of a Toronto team that once again finds itself in transition, this time under the direction of Brendan Shanahan. Big, looming and difficult questions face Shanahan and his front office team in the coming offseason, the 26-year-old among them. Bernier is set to become a restricted free agent on July 1, due a large and potentially long raise with his second NHL club. To date there have been no contract talks between the team and their No. 1 goaltender, according to Bernier and later confirmed by his agent, Pat Brisson. If they come up to my agent and they want to start talking Im sure well [talk], Bernier told TSN.ca following the teams first practice after the All-Star break. Bernier called it a shock to see former teammate and fellow Cup champion Mike Richards placed on waivers by the L.A. Kings Monday and that in some ways is the delicate balance clubs face when locking up core players for the long-term. Theres plenty of risk involved, one thats perhaps different with starting goaltenders, whose performance tends to fluctuate from year to year. Jonathan Quick, for example, excelled with a .929 save percentage in the 2011-12 regular season, only to tumble to .902 in the lockout-shortened 2013. But the Kings knew they had their guy in goal – based largely on two sensational playoff runs – and felt fine parting with Bernier in a deal with Toronto. Do the Leafs believe theyve got such a piece in Bernier? Up until and even including his recent struggles, Berniers numbers look solid, if not quite near the superb highs of his first season in Toronto and more specifically, his first three months as a Leaf – in which he owned a .930 save percentage. Bernier sits 19th amongst NHL starters with a .914 save percentage this season – tied with Ben Bishop – and 19th with a .922 even-strength save percentage – tied with Marc-Andre Fleury. Since the start of the 2013-14 season, he sits 12th among his peers with a .919 save percentage, just a touch behind Cory Schneider and a touch ahead of Corey Crawford. Signs point to the former first round pick being an above average goaltender, if not quite on the same level of Henrik Lundqvist or Carey Price. Which begs the question with restricted free agency lying ahead: what is Bernier worth to the Leafs? How much and for how long will the Leafs commit to their No. 1, who has made exactly 82 starts as a Leaf? Bernier signed for two years at an annual cap hit of $2.9 million when he landed with the club in the summer of 2013. That number promises to balloon come the summer months. Last year at about this time, Colorado re-signed Semyon Varlamov for five years at an annual cap hit of $5.9 million. Like Bernier, Varlamov was due to be a restricted free agent the following summer and like Bernier, in line for his third NHL contract. He was also a first-round pick whose career numbers lined up comparably to Bernier at similar points of their respective careers. (Varlamov held a .912 save percentage after his first 147 games in the league, a smidge below Bernier, who owns a .917 mark through his first 151 games played.) Have the Leafs seen enough to commit to such term and money (perhaps more in both cases) for Bernier? The question is two-fold, both for Bernier and the team. A long-term deal, say in the neighbourhood of 5-7 years, offers security for Bernier and certainty for the Leafs at a position thats wobbled in Toronto since the days of Ed Belfour. The risk is obvious to the team though. If Berniers performance proves to be only average or just a smidge above it they could get stuck paying an inflated fare for the long haul. Less obvious is the risk to such a deal for the player. Bernier gets security by joining up with the club long-term, but risks not only the cap rising higher in the years that follow, but his performance advancing with age, both of which could mean more money down the line. Signing a short-term deal rather, say one that takes him to age 30, means Bernier could cash in the middle of his prime at a time when the cap could be much higher than the $71 million or so numbers that have been speculated in recent weeks. A backup for most of his NHL career, Schneider opted for the long-term route shortly after he landed in New Jersey. He signed for seven years and $42 million one year after he was plucked from Vancouver. Sergei Bobrovsky, meanwhile, went the shorter-term (but still rich) route. He signed for four years and nearly $30 million earlier this month, a free agent-to-be in his early 30s and in line to cash in again down the line. Complicating matters for the Leafs and perhaps reason for Berniers camp to wait until the summer to start negotiations, is the clubs uncertain cap future. The Leafs project to have limited cap space for the 2015-16 campaign with Nazem Kadri (restricted free agent) and perhaps Cody Franson (unrestricted free agent) still to be signed. That pressure could be alleviated with a summertime trade or two and could conceivably free up more money for Bernier, who turns 27 in August. Bernier certainly takes notice when fellow goaltenders sign – such as Schneider, Bobrovsky – but he tries to keep thoughts of his own deal to a minimum. This is the first time, mind you, that hes held some degree of sway, even leverage in a contract negotiation, since he joined the league in 2007. Its easy to let it creep in a little bit, Bernier says. [But] to me its really one year at a time, one day at a time. I really want to make a big difference for this team and thats really what I focus on. I want to make the playoffs and then well talk in the summer and then well see whats the plan. Wholesale Tigers Jerseys .C. 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Cheap Alan Trammell Jersey . -- The Atlanta Braves added to their extensive wave of long-term deals with their young stars on Sunday by agreeing to a $42 million, four-year contract with All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel.TAIPEI, Taiwan - Inbee Park shot a 10-under 62 on Friday at Miramar to take a three-stroke lead in the LPGA Taiwan Championship, her first event since regaining the No. 1 spot in the world Monday.Everything was working really good out there today, Park said. I probably didnt hit as close as yesterday, but I holed a lot of putts today. And this season, Ive been struggling with my putter. This week has been totally different to what Ive been putting.The South Korean star played the first eight holes in 6 under, holing out from 82 yards for eagle on the par-4 eighth and making five birdies and a bogey. She birdied four of the first six holes on the back nine and closed with three pars.At 18-under 126, she matched the lowest 36-hole score in relation to par in LPGA history. The 10-under round matched the best to par on the tour this season.Im doing really well on the greens this week and obviously two days without the wind here in Taiwan is really unusual, Park said. I thought I should take advantage of that for two days and I feel like I did that.She was thinking about shooting 59.Yeah, definitely thought it was possible going into 13, 14, because coming down the stretch, I thought it was a lot of birdie holes, Park said. Especially the last, its a par 5. Yeah, I definitely had that in my mind. I had a score this year, 61, which was my best round and I really wanted to beat that one. But just came one short.Park won the LPGA Championship in August for her second victory of the year and fifth major title. Last year, she swept the first three majors and won six times.Chinas Shanshan Feng was second after a 65.South Koreas Mirim Lee also shot a 62 to join third-ranked Lydia Ko, Azahara Munoz and Line Vedel at 10 under. Lee won the Reignwood LPGA Classic on Oct. 5 in China for her second victtory of the year.ddddddddddddy irons were very good, so I had a lot of chances, Lee said.Ko had six straight birdies on Nos. 3-8 in a 65. The 17-year-old New Zealander won the Swinging Skirts World Ladies Masters in December at Miramar.Its a course where you can shoot some low scores, Ko said. I havent actually seen the course where theres hardly any wind. So its kind of different. I kind of feel like, Man, am I playing the same course?Munoz, from Spain, had a 66. Vedel, from Denmark, shot 68.Second-ranked Stacy Lewis was 9 under after a 68.Norways Suzann Pettersen, the winner the last two years at Sunrise, was 7 under after a 71. Michelle Wie followed her opening 68 with a 70 to reach 6 under.Danielle Kang made her second hole-in-one in eight days, acing the 158-yard 17th hole with a 7-iron. She won an Audi A6 T2.0.I was actually thinking about a hole-in-one, because Ive been touching that car, Kang said. I really wanted the car. ... It hit the fringe, like the collar, and it just kicked straight in and just rolled, tracked all the way into the hole.Last week in the first round of the Blue Bay LPGA in China, the 22-year-old American had a hole-in-one with an 8-iron on the 155-yard 17th hole to win a Buick LaCrosse.Everyone was saying, Are you kidding me? Again? Another car? Kang said.Kang has three aces in LPGA Tour play this season to tie the record set by Tracy Kerdyk in 1991 and matched by Charlotta Sorenstam in 2002.Kangs other hole-in-one came in the LOTTE Championship in April in Hawaii. She also had one this year in a non-competitive round and has eight aces in her life.Kang finished with a 4-under 68 to reach 4 under.Taiwans Yani Tseng, the winner of the inaugural event in 2011, was 1 under after a 71. She won the last of her 15 LPGA Tour titles in March 2012. ' ' '