Toronto Maple Leafs Facing a Goaltending Dilemma Next Season
When healthy, the Toronto Maple Leafs have a decent goaltending tandem with Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov. The key phrase there is “when healthy”.
Matt Murray has missed two separate chunks of time this season due to injury. In Murray’s absence, Samsonov has become the Toronto Maple Leafs number-one goaltender.
He has a 23-8-2 record with three shutouts, a 2.41 GAA, and a .915 SV%. Murray has an 11-6-2 record with one shutout, a 2.80 GAA, and a .908 SV%. (Stats from hockey-reference.com).
The Leafs are fortunate to have Toronto Marlies goaltender Joseph Woll available when needed, but that is where the dilemma lies.
Toronto Maple Leafs Facing a Goaltending Dilemma Next Season
In the AHL this season, Woll has a 15-1-0 record with a 2.24 GAA and a .933 SV%.
Woll has also had three NHL starts this season. In the NHL, he has a 2-1-0 record with a 2.04 GAA and a .938 SV%. Having Woll as the Toronto Maple Leafs third option is pretty good.
(AHL Stats from eliteprospects.com)
The problem Toronto faces this off-season is what to do with all three goaltenders.
Murray has one more year left on his contract, worth $4.687 million. Samsonov will be an RFA this summer with a $1.8 million qualifying offer owed if Toronto wants to keep his rights.
Toronto can offer a contract extension worth more than $1.8 million but will likely give the qualifying offer first and then begin negotiations. Woll has two years left on his contract, which carries a low $766,667 salary cap hit. However, Woll will no longer be waivers exempt. Many teams around the NHL would bite at the chance to claim Woll off waivers from Toronto.
(Salary cap info from capfriendly.com)
Toronto Maple Leafs Have Some Tough Choices to Make
So, what should the Toronto Maple Leafs do?
Will they risk a roster spot to carry three goaltenders all season? Or do they bite the bullet and try to trade the final year of Matt Murray’s contract? These are some of the tough questions that Toronto general manager Kyle Dubas has to answer this summer.
Clearing $4.687 million from the salary cap would do wonders for Dubas. He just needs to be confident that Samsonov and Woll will get the job done. Should Woll or Samsonov get hurt next season, Erik Kallgren would be the next in line. Kallgren is also an RFA this summer, so it would all depend on if he is still here next season. If Dubas plans on trading Murray, then re-signing both Samsonov and Kallgren is a no-brainer.
Next. Jarnkrok Making Leafs Look Good. dark
We’re only in March, and the playoffs haven’t even started yet, but it’s never too early to look at the big picture and think about the future of the Toronto Maple Leafs beyond this season.