On Tuesday, the Toronto Maple Leafs made one of their first big moves of the offseason under the new regime that involved trading of their premium goaltenders. However, it might not have been the one Maple Leafs fans expected.
As their No. 1 goalie from the 2025-26 NHL season, Joseph Woll was shockingly dealt to the Philadelphia Flyers along with defenseman Simon Benoit in exchange for goaltender Samuel Ersson, defenseman Emil Andrae and a 2026 third-round draft pick. The return package may sound like a lot, but Toronto definitely did not get full value in return for Woll.
Did the Maple Leafs get enough for Joseph Woll in shocking trade with Flyers?
With Ersson, the Leafs get a former fifth-round pick from the 2018 NHL Entry Draft that didn’t find their way to the big show until the 2022-23 season with the Flyers. Even so, the 26-year-old goalie has never posted a save percentage above .900 or a goals against average below 2.80 since his arrival in the NHL. That means he is already a downgrade from what Woll provided the Maple Leafs the past few seasons.
In Andrae, Toronto gets an aspiring 24-year-old defender that finally had his first full season with Philadelphia in 2025-26 after being taken in the second round in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. Last year, he posted two goals and 11 assists for 13 points in 61 games with the Flyers. However, he is certainly no Benoit with his 5-foot-9 frame while averaging less than one hit and one blocked shot per game. As a result, Andrae’s game will focus more on smart hockey IQ and positioning in order for his future success.
So in effect, the now former Maple Leafs goaltender was practically moved for a serviceable backup at best, an underwhelming defensive prospect, along with what supposedly was the most prized asset, which was only a third-rounder from the upcoming 2026 NHL Draft. Not to mention the Leafs had to throw in one of their better bottom-pairing defenseman in Benoit to get the deal done too.
But remember, Woll was actually taken early in the third round by Toronto back in the 2016 NHL Draft and was technically the Leafs 1A or 1B starting goalie for the past two seasons. More significantly, he was coming off a strong 2024-25 campaign in which he compiled a 27-14-1 record with a 2.73 GAA and .909 save percentage. Woll’s numbers may have ballooned quite a bit this past season, but with the way the Maple Leafs had played, perhaps no goalie likely could have done any better (just see Anthony Stolarz’s stats as well). At just 27-year-old, he still had the opportunity to fine-tune his game and cement his status as a starting premium goaltender in the NHL given his potential. But to give up on elite young talent that fast could ultimately backfire on Toronto down the road.
Perhaps the Leafs chose to move on from Woll perhaps due to being injury-prone, along with the facf that Toronto may be aiming to free up some cap space for some bigger moves ahead. Nevertheless, no matter what the multitude of reasons that it could be, for someone that had previously proven to be a solid starter in the league, the Maple Leafs should have gotten at least either a higher draft pick or a more promising prospect with immediate impact in return.
As a result, the first big move in the Mats Sundin-John Chayka regime may have disappointed Maple Leafs fan a bit. But the upcoming big transactions that they will make this offseason will likely dictate the future success or failure of the franchise.
Add us as a preferred source on Google