Should we be looking at the Toronto Maple Leafs goaltending situation as a glass half-full instead of a glass half-empty?
Over the course of the past 20 years, the Toronto Maple Leafs goaltending situation has been inatequate, to say the least. The team had a strong 15 years with Felix Potvin, Curtis Joseph and Ed Belfour, but since then, it's suffered.
Whether it was Vesla Toskala, James Reimer, Jonathan Bernier, Freddie Andersen or Ilya Samsonov, no goalie has been able to guide this team any further than the second round, which was unfortunate as we watched drafted Leaf Tuukka Rask win a Vezina Trophy and guide the Boston Bruins to multiple long playoff runs.
So although the past 20 years has been a difficult one for Leafs goaltenders, it's possible that there's hope in the two-headed monster that they possess this season. I know it seems crazy to put all our eggs into the Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz baskets, but there's a reason to believe it could work.
When Rask's career ended with the Bruins during the 2021-22 season, many didn't know what to expect from them. They had some older talent that was very strong, but goaltending was a question as they went with a tandem of Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark.
Toronto Maple Leafs hope they can replicate the Bruins goaltending success
Swayman had a solid university career, but only had 10 NHL games under his belt before getting the 1A/1B call-up, while Ullmark had less than 100 NHL starts in six seasons. Both goaltenders put up decent statistics in their limted actions, but once they were given a real opportunity they shined.
One year later during the 2022-23 season, both goaltenders won the William M. Jennings Trophy, which is an award given to goaltender(s) having played a minimum of 25 games for the team with the fewest goals scored against.
If you look at both Leafafs goaltenders, they're in a similar situation to the Bruins with a ton of hope. Stolarz is 30 years old, coming off a great season where he had a 2.03 GAA and .925 SV%. Although he only played 27 games, he's at a similar point in his career as Ullmark was and could just be waiting for the right opportunity.
As for Woll, he has a little more experience than Swayman did when he got his opportunity, but he's in a similar boat. He was a fantastic collegiate goalie who if given the opportunity, can shine in a similar way. Woll was given that opportunity last year, but unfortunately due to health, never fufilled it for an entire season. However, if he stays healthy and has a 1A/1B tandem year with Stolarz, it's possibly that these two can replicate the Bruins success.
Nobody expected the Bruins goaltenders to be this good, so why can't the Leafs goalies do the same? It's not the craziest thing to expect them both to be good because in a small sample size, they have shown that they can do it.
Maybe it will all fall apart because it typically does in Leafs Land, but there should be a little bit more optimism when it comes to the team's goaltending situation.