The Toronto Maple Leafs season opener has come and passed and while the revamped roster looked good, they ultimately fell 1–0. One notable absence from the game was anticipated starting netminder Joseph Woll who missed the game due to a lower-body injury.
With the offseason exit of former starter Ilya Samsonov—after notable inconsistencies in the crease last season—many thought it was a foregone conclusion that his tandem partner Woll would fill the hole left by Samsonov and become the team’s new primary goaltender. While that will still likely be the case, Woll’s current injury makes me worry about his overall longevity and ability to be a reliable starting goaltender for a team with high aspirations for the coming season.
Woll’s injury and the bright side with the Stolarz start
Early Wednesday morning, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman tweeted that the Leafs were reportedly bringing Marlies goalie Dennis Hildeby with them to Montreal. Right away this stirred up discussion that Woll would likely be out for the opener.
Sure enough, just hours later, news outlets began reporting what Leafs fans had been dreading since Friedman’s tweet. Woll was out with a lower-body injury and backup Anthony Stolarz would be making the start against Montreal. As Leafs coach Craig Berube later put it after Wednesday’s morning skate, “Stolarz will start. Woll experienced some lower-body tightness yesterday, it’s precautionary so we’re going to keep him out tonight.”
It has also now been revealed that Woll has been placed on the IR, meaning the earliest he can come back is this coming Wednesday’s game against the Los Angeles Kings.
Definitely unfortunate news for Woll, but as most know, Stolarz is a championship calibre backup—coming off of a 2024 Stanley Cup victory with Florida—who also happened to fair better than Woll in the preseason.
The 26-year-old Woll played two games in preseason with the most recent being on Oct. 5 against the Detroit Red Wings. While the team did split those two games, Woll wasn’t overly impressive in either, allowing two goals against Detroit and three against the Senators on Sept. 22, a game that saw him and fellow Leafs goaltender Matt Murray each play half the game. Stolarz on the other hand faired quite well, allowing just two goals in three games, which included a 2—0 shutout against the Red Wings on Oct. 3. He also played an alright game for the Leafs last night in their opener, only allowing a single goal in a loss to the Canadiens.
Is Woll on the road to being injury prone?
Woll, who signed a three-year, $10.98M contract extension in the offseason, has had injuries in the past. Last season, Woll looked solid early on, posting a .942 SV% and a 1.89 GAA in the month of October. When December came, Woll went down with a high-ankle sprain that ultimately sidelined him for three months. He was not the same when he returned from injury, posting a .890 SV% and a 3.14 GAA in the remaining 10 games he played in the season.
His more notable injury came when the games mattered most, the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs. Samsonov earned the starting job last postseason after Woll’s troublesome return from injury. However, after the Leafs found themselves in a 3–1 hole against the rival Bruins, Woll was given the starting job for Games 5 and 6. Woll played two stellar games, allowing just one goal in each. But Game 6 would be Woll’s last game of the 2024 playoffs as it was announced ahead of Game 7 that Woll would be out due to an undisclosed injury.
With this latest addition to Woll’s injury list with Toronto, it begs the question of whether the goaltender is becoming injury prone. Luckily, this current injury seems to be minor and we should see Woll back sooner rather than later, but his history from last season doesn’t make me overly confident that he will be healthy for the remainder of the 2024–25 season.
Having an on-again, off-again starting goaltender is a scary thought for a Leafs team that is hoping to challenge for a Stanley Cup with a revamped lineup, a new captain and a new coach at the helm.
If Woll does continue to miss time due to injury, Stolarz could definitely step into that starting spot, but we also have to keep in mind that Stolarz only has one game of postseason experience, one that saw him put up a rather horrid .842 SV% during.
Stolarz may be the solution for the time being if the Woll injury curse becomes more regular, but the team may struggle to find reliable netminding late in the season and the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs if that is the case.
One Comment