3 Key Lessons the Toronto Maple Leafs Can Take Away from the Oilers

#2: There’s No Need for an Elite Goaltender

No offense to Stuart Skinner. He’s a solid goaltender.

However, he’s not a Vezina-calibre goaltender, at least not yet. While he arguably outperformed Sergei Bobrovsky in this year’s Cup Final, the fact that Skinner played well enough to keep Edmonton above water.

Skinner shows that teams don’t need a superstar goalie to win.

The Colorado Avalanche did it with Darcy Kuemper. The Vegas Golden Knights did it with Adin Hill.

Of course, I’m not saying that the Leafs can win it all with Joseph Woll in net. But I am saying that it’s within the realm of possibility for the Leafs to make a run with a netminder such as Woll behind them.

The key here is that as long as the Maple Leafs get solid goaltending, they could make a long playoff run.

But there’s a caveat: The defense in front of the goalie needs to be solid. There can’t be any silly mistakes or mental gaffes. Otherwise, the opposition can make the Leafs pay. Unfortunately, that’s happened all too often for Toronto.

So, if the Leafs want to roll the dice with Woll, they can. But the catch is that the D in front of him needs to be its absolute best.