Goaltending is the hot-button topic in Toronto right as it pertains to the Toronto Maple Leafs and their struggles between the pipes. With Joseph Woll out of the lineup still bothered by his ankle injury, the team has relied heavily on veteran Martin Jones and the struggling Ilya Samsonov.
On top of the struggles in net, the Maple Leafs have put up some inconsistent play this season which has led the organization and fanbase to have more questions surrounding the team’s destination this season. Still, the conversation seems to return every game to the lacklustre play in net and what Brad Treliving’s going to do to fix it.
But, as Elliotte Friedman noted on Sportsnet’s Saturday Headlines, the Maple Leafs might not be in a spot to move on from the Samsonov-Woll duo even if they are considered buyers in the goalie market.
While we’ve explored the possibility of acquiring other goaltenders in recent articles, here’s how it could breakdown for the Maple Leafs if a deal can’t get done.
Joseph Woll Remains Maple Leafs Starter
It’s pretty simple. The Maple Leafs had a plan to give Woll more time this season and aside from the injury that has kept him out, he’s lived up to expectations thus far. As Friedman points out in the headlines, those around the league don’t believe the Maple Leafs have a ton of enthusiasm around making a move.
The belief is that the Maple Leafs would like to see where they are at when Woll returns from injury, with the expectation being that he remains the team’s number one guy. While it doesn’t necessarily make total sense right now with the struggles the team has had recently, it could make more sense when Woll returns.
So far this season, Woll has a record of 8-5-1 with a 2.80 goals against average (GAA) and .916 save percentage (SV%) having played the most minutes to date in his NHL career. While it remains a small sample size, his career numbers are just as good. He’s 17-7-1 in 26 career games with a 2.62 GAA and .919 SV%.
It’s safe to say the Maple Leafs will continue to reward his development and give him a shot at taking on that number one spot when he returns. So, what happens to the other two — Jones and Samsonov?
Maple Leafs Must Choose Between Samsonov and Jones
If the word around the league has validity to it, the Maple Leafs will be choosing a back-up to Woll when he returns. If they’re going with money, they’d surely like to keep Samsonov on the roster so long as he’s earning $3.55 million this season. That said, based on the numbers, Jones would be the current frontrunner.
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Now, Samsonov has been open about his struggles mentally this season and he’s been playing through what seems to be his longest stretch of poor play in his short career, but with the Atlantic Division as tight as it is, the Maple Leafs need wins to maintain their current standing.
The market doesn’t seem to have a lot available, according to Friedman, at least not much that has the Maple Leafs salivating at the moment. So the likelihood is that they would run with the Woll-Samsonov duo and try to get last year’s starter back on track with his game.
Maple Leafs Remain Buyers in Net
Even with the speculation that Treliving isn’t fully enthused with what’s available in the goalie market at the moment, the Maple Leafs still remain buyers when it comes to goaltending. It may not happen ahead of the trade deadline, but they do have a void that seemingly needs to be filled for their window of competitiveness to really open.
We’ve seen it in today’s NHL that all the offence in the world can’t make up for shaky goaltending come playoff time. That said, the right player needs to be available for Treliving to pull the trigger and right now the Maple Leafs don’t have many assets they’re willing to move to land that player.
Players like Easton Cowan and Fraser Minten remain likely untouchables, while Matthew Knies is surely out of the question. Their draft capital remains thin and Treliving likely doesn’t want to shorten that handle either. So, that puts the team in a tough spot, especially with their cap restraints.
That could explain their lack of enthusiasm for the time being, but either way, it’s looking more and more like the Maple Leafs could move past the NHL Trade Deadline with the Woll-Samsonov duo staying put — even as buyers.
It’s not the perfect solution and it’s surely one that will get Leafs Nation going, especially if Samsonov continues to struggle.