Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll’s injury revelation prior to Wednesday’s season opener was certainly unexpected, and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on the latest 32 Thoughts The Podcast about the situation. Friedman stated that he doesn’t get the sense there is a loss in trust but he does know they were hoping not to have to placed him on injured reserve this early in the season.
“Some of the talk in Toronto was ‘How are these guys going to trust them? They’re going to lose faith, how can they believe in them?’” Friedman said. “When things like that get said, what I wonder about is, is it opinion or is someone telling people this? Opinions are fine, everybody’s entitled to them. But I think there’s a difference between that’s what people are saying and that’s what is being told them. Right now I can’t tell, to be perfectly honest, if there’s any team-wide disappointment at it, but they were definitely hoping that it wouldn’t be the case right now and they have no choice but to bubble wrap him.”
In terms of how the Woll suffered his most recent injury, Friedman reported that he got the sense from Leafs reporters that Woll seemed off for a few days leading up to Wednesday. There were reportedly whispers on Tuesday night, per Friedman, that Woll was not going to play in the season opener and that Anthony Stolarz would get the nod while Dennis Hildeby would be joining the team, all three of which ended up being accurate.
Stolarz played well despite losing 1-0 to the Montreal Canadiens while Hildeby impressed in his NHL debut with a 4-2 win over the New Jersey Devils. As for Woll, Friedman said the sense he got is the injury is not serious but the Leafs may alter his workload on non-game days moving forward.
“In this day and age, I think you’re seeing a lot of more teams starting to say that ‘You can’t do this anymore, that there has to be more rest,’” he said. “For Woll, I think they’re going to say ‘No more practicing as much as you do.’ Each team gets four days off a month, which is CBA-mandated, but I wonder if you’re gonna see it even more. I do believe that that’s one of the things they’re discussing.”
The Leafs’ goalie depth is in a really good place right now which is highlighted by the fact that the team opted to go with a rookie goalie over a two-time Cup winner in Matt Murray when they needed a replacement for Woll. Friedman noted that around last season’s trade deadline, many teams inquired to Toronto about Hildeby’s availability and they resisted moving him because they felt they had something in the towering Swedish netminder. All of which is to say he will be a player that gets a longer look should Woll or Stolarz get hurt or seem off as the season progresses.
There were certainly going to be questions surrounding the top two guys given the risk of injuries which became realized right before the regular season began, but Toronto is better equipped to weather the storm which is why they may be inclined to let Woll rest more to preserve him down the line. Of course, this won’t quell the fears of some Leafs fans who will want to see Woll remain healthy consistently before placing their faith in him. But at the end of the day, the team has maintained their belief in him being a key part of their future by committing to him with a three-year extension this summer.
Part of that means taking precautions with him if something seems off and granting him extra rest to keep him fresh and avoid unnecessary risks, which appears to be what the Leafs are doing here per Friedman.
