The Toronto Maple Leafs needed to address their goaltending depth ahead of their season opener against the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night. The Leafs picked up Cayden Primeau off waivers and subsequently released veteran James Reimer from his PTO. While the move itself wasn’t surprising, the name plucked off waivers was.
The name on the Maple Leafs’ radar was Boston Bruins goalie Michael DiPietro. The Bruins faced a tough decision as they risked losing DiPietro if placed on waivers. Boston took that chance, and the goalie prospect cleared.
But if the Leafs were so high on DiPietro as an October 5 piece by James Murphy in RG Media noted, then why did the Leafs fail to pick up DiPietro?
An anonymous league source told Murphy:
“I’d be surprised if he makes it through. I’ve had conversations with managers, and the feeling is that teams who still need backups would love to grab him off waivers because they think he can actually be a 1B, not just a backup.”
And therein lies the answer. If the Leafs had picked up DiPietro, they would be faced with the same decision the Bruins dealt with. Once Joseph Woll came back, the Leafs would have to choose between DiPietro and Woll.
If the Leafs ultimately chose Woll, they would have to send DiPietro down, exposing him to waivers. As such, losing DiPietro would mean the Maple Leafs could find themselves back to square one, trying to figure out their goalie depth.
Maple Leafs not taking any chances with goalie depth
As Murphy noted in his piece, the Maple Leafs are not taking any chances with their goaltending depth this season. The club wants to ensure there are enough healthy bodies to take over duties in case of injury.
That’s why Cayden Primeau made sense. If the Leafs needed to send him down to the AHL, there’s a good chance he would clear.
As Murphy’s source stated:
“The Leafs are really going for it, and I don’t think they want to take any chances between the pipes, so they want to get deeper there.”
Adding Primeau means the Leafs would have four NHL-caliber goalies in the depth chart. Assuming Woll returns, Stolarz and Woll would be #1 and #2, respectively. That situation would leave Primeau as the #3 with Dennis Hildeby as the #4.
For now, it makes more sense for the Leafs to have Dennis Hildeby as the Marlies’ starter. He could see action at one point or another, given the needs of the schedule. Plus, you would have to think that Woll will need time to acclimate before his return to the NHL.
So, Hildeby and Woll can split time with the Marlies while Woll gets up to speed. And, if Woll takes much longer to return, the Leafs won’t have to rely on an unproven goalie to take over the reins in an emergency.