The Toronto Maple Leafs face numerous questions heading into this offseason, and many people wonder what moves new GM Brad Treliving will make. One move he shouldn’t make, however, is making a blockbuster trade for a goalie.
If you ask me, I believe the Toronto Maple Leafs are set between the pipes and should not waste their assets on acquiring another goalie.
There have been plenty of trade rumours in the past few weeks of some big-name goalies being potentially traded, such as Connor Hellebuyck, Juuse Saros, and Carter Hart.
And while I would love to have any of these 3 goalies on my team (who wouldn’t), the Leafs are better off saving their assets for a forward or defenseman.
The Toronto Maple Leafs Should Not Trade For a Goalie
The Leafs also have some very strong goalies of their own, including Ilya Samsonov, who was arguably a top-10 goalie this past regular season. During the 2022-23 season, Samsonov was 6th in NHL GAA and 7th in SV%, not too shabby.
Samsonov is an RFA this offseason and white the Leafs do need to re-sign him, they should have no problem affording Samsonov. The key here would be not to overpay with either term or money, but considering Samsonov had to sign a one-year deal for cheap last year, he likely isn’t going to command the world.
The Leafs also have Joseph Woll, who is not only cheaper than Samsonov, but he’s arguably the better goalie. In his short NHL career so far, Woll has a 9-2-0 record with a very strong 2.38 GAA and a .924 SV%, very impressive stats for a guy who’s still considered a rookie.
Woll had a great season last year in both the AHL and the NHL, and was solid for the Leafs in the playoffs. It’s been years since the Leafs developed a home-grown goalie, and doing so with Woll would be an incredible advantage.
On top of these two, the Leafs also have Matt Murray, who’s still a solid NHL netminder.
In conclusion, if the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to make a big move this offseason, it should be for a forward or defenseman, not a goalie.
Also, almost every recent Stanley Cup winner (with the exception of Tampa) didn’t need to have a superstar goalie on their team to win their cups, why would the Leafs be any different?
We’ll see what Treliving decides to do this offseason, and if his first big move as GM involves trading for a goalie or not.