The Toronto Maple Leafs will be undergoing some organizational changes in the wake of another early exit, which will include potential departures and streamlining of the management structure, and obviously, some changes in the roster. GM Brad Treliving will be reviewing where the club can improve, and most of the focus will be up front, where potentially one-half of the core group will be playing elsewhere next season.
Today, we’ll look at the Leafs outlook between the pipes.
Toronto made an overall improvement defensively under new head coach Craig Berube, shaving their goals against by 32 goals to 229 goals allowed in 2024-25 (8th overall). The plan going into the season was to use Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz in a 1A–1B scenario, but that was abandoned early on when Woll was injured in training camp.
Stolarz started the season impressively, going 9-5-2, with a 2.15 GAA, and .927 save% %, but as was always the concern with the big netminder, his history of injuries reared its ugly head in mid-December, when a knee injury kept him out for almost two months. Once he returned, he was streaky, winning four games in a row, losing three, and finishing the season with eight straight victories, which convinced Berube to go with the 31-year-old as the starter in the playoffs.
His performance against Ottawa was solid but not spectacular, but his ability to handle the puck gave the Leafs an advantage in exiting the zone. That all ended with a forearm shiver from Sam Bennett in Game 1 against Florida, which concussed Stolarz and ended his season.
Woll returned to the lineup in late October and shared duties with Stolarz until his injury in December, when he took over as the primary starter. The 26-year-old did not have any further health issues during the season, and until Stolarz’s return just before the Four Nations break, Woll went 19-10-0, with a 2.67 GAA and .909 save percentage, but for the rest of the season, Berube went with Stolarz in 17 of the 30 remaining games and in most of the key contests.
The lighter workload and hesitancy to use Woll in big games was a critical mistake by the Leafs head coach, because one of the most important aspects of this season was to find out if Woll could be a #1 and the go-to guy in the playoffs. They did not do that, and that may have contributed to him not being sharp at times
This is one of the Leafs and Berube’s great failings this season, because it was inevitable that Stolarz could not start every other night in a postseason scenario, and it was more important overall to have Woll ready. The criticism of Woll in the Florida series has been short-sighted and pretty stupid. There were many moments, especially in Games 4, 6, and 7, when the Leafs goaltender was their best player and kept them in the game, but he eventually succumbed to the Panthers withering attack.
Outlook – In the list of priorities, goaltending for Treliving is well down on the list. That is not to say that if an opportunity arose to trade for Jordan Binnington (who is entering his last year with St. Louis), the Leafs might jump at it. Toronto is in the same unresolved position going into 2025-26 as they were one year ago. They still have to find out whether Woll can be the #1 goalie, since we know that Stolarz cannot be with his history of injuries, Treliving may try to coax Matt Murray into another one-year contract. The two-time Cup winner had an excellent season in the AHL coming off double-hip surgery, and would provide a buffer between the Leafs starters and the young prospects who do not appear to be ready.
Dennis Hildeby appeared to take a slight step back in his second season with the Toronto Marlies, and Russian rookie Artur Akhtyamov was impressive at times in his 26 AHL games, but both need more time and development before attempting to crack the lineup in the NHL.
