During the past two seasons, the Toronto Maple Leafs had the incumbents Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz serve as their main goaltending duo in the crease. When they were on their game and healthy, they were certainly one of the more solid tandems in the game. However, both goalies had their fair share of injuries that ultimately limited their overall effectiveness, as very often, one or the other would have to shoulder the load as a result of it. In particular, last season was so bad that the Leafs had third-string rookie Dennis Hildeby end up seeing 20 games of action when all was said and done.
For this coming year, the Maple Leafs might not have to worry as much as they now have Sergei Bobrovsky coming in to take on a starter’s load with Stolarz to back him up. Bobrovsky has proven to be quite durable in recent years and has played in at least 50 games in nine of the past 10 seasons, with his only one without 50 games occurring in 2020-21 during the COVID-shortened schedule year. As a result, he will be all ready to go with another heavy workload in 2026-27, while Stolarz should get enough rest between starts to hopefully maintain better health in partnering with his former Florida Panther teammate.
Maple Leafs might need even more goaltending depth
However, should the Maple Leafs still consider pursuing some veteran goaltending depth even with the “durable Bob” and Stolarz combo in net? After all, Bobrovsky will be 38 by the time the NHL regular season starts, not to mention all the mileage he has already accumulated in his 16 years in the league. In addition, Stolarz has had his history of injury woes, with Leafs fans experiencing it at the worst possible times during the past couple of seasons.
As it currently stands, rookie Artur Akhtyamov would be the one to step in if any of the aforementioned goalies were to go down to an ailment. Akhtyamov may have had a sensational run with the Toronto Marlies in capturing playoff MVP and the Calder Cup this past spring. But only three career NHL games under his belt, he certainly isn’t a proven commodity yet, not to mention he was 0-2-0 with a 4.76 GAA and .877 save percentage in those games.
As a result, perhaps having some veteran insurance depth in the Leafs system would be most wise. Currently in the free agent market, some plausible options include Connor Ingram, veteran Cam Talbot, and of course former fan favourite James Reimer. Ingram would be the youngest option of the three, while having seen plenty of action with the Edmonton Oilers last season getting into 32 total games.
Talbot might have Father Time already catching up to him after seeing a regression in his numbers in each of the past two seasons. Nevertheless, he has proven to be a serviceable goaltender whenever he has played. Finally, Reimer showed that he still had some game left in him in his brief yet effective tenure with the Ottawa Senators last season. As the one that would likely demand the least in salary, the former Maple Leaf would be the ideal target to fulfill the insurance role for Toronto as he won’t likely be picked up on waivers when they need to send him to the Marlies to start the season.
Therefore, with the limited effective goalie options remaining in free agency, if the Leafs haven’t thought of it already, it is about time they should seriously consider adding that depth now before it’s too late.
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