Currently sitting 11 standings points outside of a wild-card berth, with just 14 games remaining in the 2025–26 NHL season, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ playoff hopes have all but disappeared. So, as Leafs management looks ahead to the incoming offseason, big decisions will need to be made in terms of both players, coaching and other personnel. One such decision will be deciding which goalies to keep around for the 2026–27 season.
While it would be easy for the team to just run things back with Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll as the main tandem, with Dennis Hildeby stepping in at times, things will unfortunately not be so simple. Hildeby’s waiver exemption ends after this season, meaning that for him to be sent to the AHL next season, he will first need to clear waivers, making things quite dicey if the team keeps all three netminders.
With the team’s goalie conundrum in mind, let’s look into some of the potential routes the Leafs could look to take goalie-wise.
Shift to a young core
While some think the Leafs may still look to retool their core, centred around Auston Matthews and William Nylander, there is also the chance that the team goes into full rebuild and builds around a new, younger core. If that is the route Toronto ends up taking, the older Stolarz may be the odd man out.
Hildeby is just 24 years old, and Woll is 27, but Stolarz is easily their elder at 32. If the team parts ways with Stolarz, Woll would shift fairly seamlessly into the No. 1 spot, with Hildeby slotting in as his backup. Though still primarily an AHL goalie, Hildeby played an increased number of games with injuries to both Stolarz and Woll during the season, and faired quite well with a 2.90 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage in 19 games played, 13 of which he started.
In terms of money, trading Stolarz would free up the most cap space when compared to Hildeby and Woll. Hildeby is currently in year one of a three-year deal with an average annual value of $841,667, and Woll is similarly in the first year of a three-year, $3.66-million AAV contract. Meanwhile, Stolarz will be in year one of a four-year, $3.75-million AAV contract extension come the 2026–27 season. Does the team really want to have that on the books, given their uncertain future and Stolarz’s injury history?
Moving into the tertiary netminder spot in this scenario would more than likely be 24-year-old Toronto Marlies goalie Artur Akhtyamov, who has been having a solid year with the AHL club, with a 2.86 GAA and a .904 SV% in 32 games played. If the team is looking to rebuild, or at least save some cap space, this is the best option. Plus, Akhtyamov just signed a new three-year deal with the Leafs on March 15, so he will likely be a Leaf for the next few years.
Keep the status quo
While giving up Stolarz would free up decent cap space, there is also an argument to be made for just keeping things as is, and it mainly comes down to the track records of Stolarz and Woll. While Stolarz has been shaky this season while dealing with injuries, he had a career-defining year in 2024–25. His only season of 30 games or more at that point, he posted a 2.14 GAA and a .926 SV% in 34 games.
With Woll, his stats have shown consistency throughout his young career, never once dipping below a .900 SV%. Together with Stolarz, they were a very reliable tandem last season, allowing the eighth least amount of goals per game in the league. The main knock against this path is that while Woll and Stolarz have been effective for the most part, they have both missed significant time with injury as Leafs. But in a hypothetical world where both are able to have mostly healthy seasons, there’s no reason why this duo can’t have a comeback.
With Hildeby, he would need to be moved in a deal because he wouldn’t pass through waivers. Like with the previous goalie scenario, Akhtyamov would slot into the third goalie spot as he still has two more years of waiver exemption remaining per Puckpedia.
Win now and shake things up
Imagine Leafs GM Brad Treliving decides that, instead of rebuilding or even retooling, he goes all in one last time on a core of Matthews, Nylander, and John Tavares, making deals for strong pieces to finally push the Leafs over the top. Well, that shaking up could very well extend to the crease, and there are a few options the Leafs could pick for a win-now move.
Jordan Binnington?
The first could be to trade either Stolarz or Woll in a deal with the St. Louis Blues to acquire veteran netminder Jordan Binnington. Though Binnington has had a less-than-stellar 2025–26 season, he has been a consistent force for the Blues throughout his career. In his 2018–19 Cup-winning season, he had a 1.89 GAA and a .927 SV%, with those numbers only dipping slightly in the playoffs. And we can’t forget that he also played a significant role in Canada’s victory at the 4 Nations: Face-Off. Binnington is also a relatively cost-effective option, as he will be in the final season of his contract in 2026–27—a contract that has a $6-million AAV.
What about Sergei Bobrovsky?
But if the Leafs want to really swing for the fences, they could try to clear some more cap space once free agency hits this summer and put their name in the Sergei Bobrovsky sweepstakes. Bobrovsky comes with a lot of risk. He has struggled in net with the worst save percentage of his career, and he is also 37 years old, meaning that he would be a very short-term piece for the Leafs. What the team would be betting on is that Bobrovsky could channel the same energy that allowed him to backstop the Florida Panthers to back-to-back Stanley Cups.
Binnington may be the more realistic option for the Leafs, but Bobrovsky could very well be the higher reward if the team is willing to take more risk. But what do you think? How should the Leafs handle their goalie situation?
