The Toronto Maple Leafs signed Dennis Hildeby to a three-year, $2.525M contract extension, keeping him within the organization through the 2027-28 season. Now that the Swedish netminder is locked up for the next three seasons, it feels like the Leafs are setting him up as their goalie of the future, or at least their back-up.
The team curently has a lovely tandem of Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll, but Stolarz' contract expires after this season, so the Hildeby signing could be a great back-up (pun intended) play.
The Leafs are in an interesting spot with their goaltender's right now. If Stolarz has a great season, he could emerge as one of the top goalie UFA's next offseason and demand a huge pay increase. With the salary cap rising, Stolarz will only be 32 years old when he hits free agency, which is arguably the prime age for a goalie, meaning another team will give him a huge contract, or the Leafs will have to step up.
The Hidelby signing gives the Leafs the luxury to go all-in on Stolarz and sign him to a big contract after next season, or allows them to walk away from him and run with Joseph Woll and Hildeby as their goaltender's. In my opinion, that's a pretty great spot to be in and gives the Leafs a ton of flexibility.
Leafs sign Dennis Hildeby to contract extension
If the team re-sign's Stolarz, it'll be a big number, but they could offset some of that cost by trading Woll. With Hildeby signed at essentially the league-minimum, the Leafs could sign Stolarz to something as high as $8M and still feel like they're saving money at the goaltender position.
Hildeby, or better known as the Hilde-beast, is a huge goaltender with a ton of upside. The 6-foot-7, 220 pound netminder's stats don't jump off the page after his first few years in Canada, but another full year in the American Hockey League should help. He'll be fighting for playing time with Artur Akhtyamov, but the both of them should start between 35-40 games this season.
For the first time in decades, the Leafs have strong goaltending depth that is set up for now and the future, which is super exciting. I'll be watching Hildeby very closely this season as this is a fantastic signing and insurance blanket for the next three years.