Toronto Maple Leafs Suffer Through a Rough Pre-Season In Net

Earlier this week, the Toronto Maple Leafs wrapped up their pre-season.

Now, the pre-season usually doesn’t mean a whole lot to the average Toronto Maple Leafs fan. And who can blame them, the games don’t count towards the standings and the star players don’t play in many of the games.

But these games do mean a lot to a lot of other people. It is a chance for players to earn a full-time spot in the NHL, as well as a brief preview of what the regular season could look like for the Leafs.

One thing that did not look good for the Leafs, however, was their goaltending.

Was it a fluke, or is this an area of concern?

Toronto Maple Leafs Have a Rough Pre-Season In Net

The Leafs finished the pre-season with a 4-2-2 record, not a bad record by any means, and again, it is only the pre-season.

Despite the solid record, however, the Leafs top-2 goalies did not perform well.

Both Ilya Samsonov and Joseph Woll had rough exhibition games, and put up some rough stats along with them.

Samsonov put up a .879 SV% and a 2.96 GAA, while Woll was even worse, with a .870 SV% and a 4.83 GAA.

Funny enough, the Leafs top goalie during the pre-season was Martin Jones, who was signed as an insurance goalie and just recently placed on waivers.

While Samsonov and Woll are clearly better goalies than Jones, it is still fun to point out Jones’ stats during the pre-season, where he put up video-game-type numbers, having a .961 SV% and a 1.29 GAA.

As mentioned before, this is still the pre-season and lots can happen. But the performances from both Samsonov and Woll left a lot to be desired.

This brings up an interesting question. Do the Leafs have enough between the pipes to win a Stanley Cup?

If you ask me, I think they do.

The Leafs not only have some of the NHL’s best depth between the pipes, but I think both Samosonov and Woll are more than capable of winning a cup as a starter.

We’ve seen recent cup champs, including Colorado and Vegas, win without a Vezina-level goalie, and I believe the Leafs could do the same.

In short, I think that this pre-season was just a bad stretch for the Leafs netminders.

However, if this poor play keeps up, the net will be a huge area of concern for the Leafs.