Training camps open across the National Hockey League (NHL) signaling the unofficial start to the 2025-26 season.
This includes the Toronto Maple Leafs, who released their 73-man roster comprised of 44 forwards, 23 defencemen, and six goaltenders. It is a noticeably large sized roster but under the circumstances, it is reasonable.
The Leafs have seen quite a bit of turnover this off-season, especially upfront at forward with the departure of star and core four member, Mitch Marner. The team also waved goodbye to forwards Ryan Reaves, Pontus Holmberg, Max Pacioretty, and more.
However, there are two positions that the team is quite stable, on the backend and in net with six out of their seven defencemen being under contract for at least the next two seasons. In net, Joseph Woll is locked up for the next three seasons and there are rumours that the team is working on an extension for goaltender Anthony Stolarz as well.
If the club re-signs Stolarz, that would mean that both of their NHL goaltenders are locked up for the forseeable future, making it hard for anybody to usurp either of them, unless their play falls off. As of right now, the team has two high-end prospects between the pipes with the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Toronto Marlies.
Both Dennis Hildeby and Artur Akhytamov were recently ranked in the top 10 for our Maple Leafs prospect rankings at third and fourth, respectively. This shows not only the strength of these two netminders but also hints at the likelihood of them being worth quite a bit in trade discussions.
Exploring a trade for Hildeby and Akhytamov
By the end of this calendar year, both Hildeby and Akhtyamov are going to be 24 years old and with both of them potentially being blocked from making it as NHL regulars, their development runway is starting to run short. That is not to say that either of them could stunt their growth by spending another year primarily in the AHL but they will need to be able to get into NHL games.
It also means that very soon they will be looking around and could find themselves feeling disgruntled with their situation and ask for a trade -- similar to Nick Robertson who has struggled to make the Leafs lineup.
Both goalies have shown capable of playing high end hockey, despite Hildeby's struggles at the NHL level, sporting an .878 save percentage through seven games with the Leafs. Akhtyamov cooled off to end last year but still had an impressive debut year in North America all things considered. They both show clear NHL potential in their own right and could hit that potential in very short order.
Although Hildeby recently signing for a three-year commitment does seem to signal that he has bought in, there are few NHL teams that are able to keep four NHL calibre goaltenders under contract.
Between Woll, Stolarz, and Hildeby all being locked up -- assuming the Leafs and Stolarz can reach an agreement -- this could leave Akhtyamov as the odd-man out. Trading highly touted prospects would not be new as general manager Brad Treliving sent both Fraser Minten and Nikita Grebenkin packing at the Trade deadline in March for forward Scott Laughton and defenceman Brandon Carlo.
If the team does choose to dangle one of Akhtyamov or Hildeby, there is likely to be plenty of suitors for the young goalies and at this rate, they could be the best trade chips for the team to utilize. Hopefully, the Leafs have learned from their past and make a better decision this time around choosing the right goalie to move off of.