Goalies
Writing about this is somewhat unusual. The Toronto Maple Leafs have the goaltending to pull off a strong defence-first system.
Of course, the Toronto Maple Leafs don’t have a Sergei Bobrovsky or Connor Hellebuyck to steal games. The best they can do is play tight defensively and hope their goaltending holds up. So far so good!
As such, Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll can carry the load by playing well enough to win games. Stolarz has proven he can handle the load while Woll looks like he’s just emerging as a number-one guy.
That situation means the Leafs have the luxury of falling back on their defence while allowing their goaltenders to clean up what’s left over. If we look back at what Berube did with the St. Louis Blues in 2019, that’s essentially how the team played. It stuck to the fundamentals, allowing Jordan Binnington to keep things together. History says that this is an unlikely recipe for success, but it has been done.
So, who’s to say Woll and/or Stolarz cannot play the part of Jordan Binnington this season? Either or both are capable of consistently providing solid starts.
But there is a caveat in this discussion: Stolarz is currently on the shelf with Woll already spending time on IR. That situation raises concerns about the Leafs goalie’s health. They can’t be any good if they’re not healthy enough to play.
And, that’s where things get dicey. Can the Leafs fall back on Matt Murray to carry the load for any period? Could Dennis Hildeby be entrusted to fill in, especially in the playoffs?
These questions should become clearer in the coming months. Unfortunately, the Leafs will need to treat their goalies with kid gloves amid significant injury concerns. The good news is that the Leafs do have four NHL-caliber goalies in the depth chart. If things go sideways, a Murray-Hildeby tandem might just become the most unexpected goalie pair to win a Cup.