5 Reasons For Toronto Maple Leafs Fans to be Optimistic
By David Agnew
Upside in the Crease
It appears that Matt Murray will not be a Toronto Maple Leaf this fall.
With all of the free agent additions to the roster so far, the Leafs need to shed some significant salary before the season starts, and the easiest way to do that will be to to either trade or buy out Murray.
Although necessary, neither option is particularly appealing, as Treliving may have to sweeten a trade with draft picks, and buyouts are basically wasted cap space (nobody at MLSE cares about the actual cash).
The best thing about a Murray departure would be a full time Ilya Samsonov – Joseph Woll goaltending tandem. Woll showed in 2022-2023 in both the regular season and the playoffs (15 games total, .922 save %) that he’s ready to stay in the NHL. He’s been brought along slowly by the Maple Leafs organization (due in part to injuries and Covid), and appears to have benefitted from the patience. (stats from nhl.com).
Although Woll has limited experience so far at the NHL level, he wouldn’t be the first young goalie to run with the opportunity of more playing time.
Ideally, he will solidify his game and his confidence to the point where he can split the games equally with Samsonov. A team that can turn confidently to either goalie has a distinct advantage over an opponent that has to ride or die with only one solid option in net.
Even if Woll isn’t quite ready to take on half the games, Ilya Samsonov was very good for the Toronto Maple Leafs last season, with a career best .919 save % in 42 regular season games. He also continued with his strong play in the playoffs, responding to a big question mark after less than stellar playoff work with the Washington Capitals.