The Toronto Maple Leafs have a very big decision to make this summer when it comes to the crease. As it stands, they have three NHL-level goalies signed and will need to decide who they are keeping; otherwise, Dennis Hildeby could be facing waivers as early as the end of training camp.
That doesn’t seem likely unless they opt to trade him. They aren’t just going to lose him for nothing on waivers. That could point to the new management group of John Chayka and Mats Sundin being forced into a decision between Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz.
While the most obvious choice would be Stolarz, given his new contract is set to kick in on July 1, there has also been a report from Daily Faceoff linking Woll to the Philadelphia Flyers, and it actually does make some sense.
Joseph Woll linked to the Flyers in latest report
With the Flyers still needing to sort out their goaltending situation, Dan Vladar is eligible for an extension this summer. There have been some rumblings they could look elsewhere if the asking price gets too high. If that happens, Woll becomes a very logical option.
At 27 years old, Woll has shown he has starter potential if he can stay healthy. He would step into a young Flyers group and bring some stability to the position, similar to what Vladar provided at times last season.
The difficult part for the Maple Leafs is the off-ice side of it. Woll is well-liked in the locker room and close with a number of players, so moving him wouldn’t be an easy decision. At the same time, hockey is a business, and sometimes those decisions have to be made.
In terms of return, the Leafs would likely be looking for draft capital plus a younger NHL-ready player, something in the range of a player like Alex Bump or Nikita Grebenkin. Grebenkin was already moved to Philadelphia in the Scott Laughton deal but would still fit the type of return Toronto would be targeting.
Ideally, Toronto would keep Woll and move Stolarz instead. It makes more sense to move the older goalie with the bigger contract. But other teams may value Woll more, and that could end up driving the return high enough to at least make the Maple Leafs think about it.
And that’s really where this sits. A decision that looks simple on the surface, but probably won’t feel that way once the calls actually start coming in.
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