Goaltending Stability
Let me transcribe ChatGPT’s short, but powerful response:
“The goaltending situation, with Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz, is promising but unproven over a full season. Ensuring consistency in net will be crucial, especially if the defense doesn’t improve significantly.”
There’s a lot to unpack there.
First of all, Woll and Stolarz are unproven. Perhaps going with a 1A-1B tandem can help keep Woll healthy while giving Stolarz a shot to prove what he can do. Maybe one of them runs away with the starting job. While that seems doubtful, it might work.
Additionally, AI seems to believe that the Leafs defence may not improve this upcoming season. From my perspective, that’s a very real possibility. There’s plenty of reason to believe that the Leafs could end up with a patchwork blue line once again if Tanev goes down and Ekman-Larsson crashes down to reality.
While we can expect a decent blue line, inconsistent play could leave these two young goalies out to dry. Of course, there’s a chance that either one could flourish under the pressure. But let’s be realistic. Leaving young goalies out to dry is not the most effective game plan.
I want to believe that Woll and Stolarz would work out as Varlamov and Sorokin did for the New York Islanders a couple of seasons ago. I wish that the Woll-Stolarz combo could be like the Jeremy Swayman-Linus Ullmark tandem in Boston.
But let’s face it: The Leafs have a lot of work ahead of themselves if they want to make their current roster work well. The X-factor this season will be Craig Berube. I remember him from his days as a rough-and-tumble grinder. If that attitude permeates the Leafs’ current roster, this club could be in for big things.