3 Available Goalies For Leafs to Consider If Woll's Absence is Extensive

Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Joseph Woll removes his mask during stoppage in play,

While the Toronto Maple Leafs haven't revealed any type of timeline for the absence of goaltender Joseph Woll, observers around the team say that it doesn't sound like they're expecting him back anytime soon. Woll took a personal leave of absence on Tuesday to deal with a private family matter, and no other details were announced.

“It’s not a case where it’s like, okay, I’m going to be gone for X amount of days and then I’ll be back. I don’t think it’s clear yet how long this absence is going to be," said insider Chris Johnston on TSN 1050.

On the bright side, Toronto still has the '1A' half of their goaltending duo to head into the season with, in Anthony Stolarz. But leaning on him hard doesn't come without risk. Stolarz has had his injury troubles and has never started more than 33 games in a season (accomplished last year with the Buds, though he missed two months with a knee injury).

His backup for now will be 6'7" youngster Dennis Hildeby, who has all of six NHL games under his belt. It would be nice for him to get his feet wet a little more at the top level.

But if the season gets underway and there's no end in sight to Woll's absence, GM Brad Treliving may want to start considering bringing in an experienced hand to take some of the pressure off Stolarz and Hildeby. With that, let's take a look at three netminders for the team to consider, for better or worse. And a couple of them will be very familiar to Leafs fans.

Connor Ingram

The Utah Mammoth recently announced that they're looking for a trade partner to take Connor Ingram off their hands. He is not in camp while they look for a new home for the 2024 Masterton Trophy winner.

Caleb Kerney of Heavy Sports has proposed a trade of Calle Jarnkrok for Ingram, and this certainly seems to make sense. The Leafs have been trying to unload one of Jarnkrok or David Kampf all summer, to no avail. Salary-cap wise, it's a near wash, as Ingram is in the final year of contract with a $1.95 million cap hit, while Jarnkrok is making $2.1M for this season.

Now we move to the free agent options. Hold onto your hats, Leafs fans.

Ilya Samsonov

I know... There aren't a lot of Toronto fans who want to go back here. But Samsonov can be a decent NHL backup—as long as he's not the man expected to carry the load. And as long as Stolarz is around, that would be the case. The 28-year-old Samsonov was the starter in the Toronto crease for two seasons, from 2022 through 2024, and posted an .897 save percentage and 3.09 goals against average. He wasn't a reliable playoff option, but that's not what they'd need him for this season.

In 200 NHL games, he's 118-48-15 with a 2.77 goals against average and a .902 save percentage.

James Reimer

It's been a decade since Reimer last tended goal in Toronto, and lest Maple Leaf fans forget, he did post a .914 Sv% and 2.83 GAA in his six years in T.O.

He even posted a .923 Sv% in the ill-fated first-round playoff series against the Boston Bruins that year. But he will be remembered for being on the losing end of that epic Game 7 meltdown, in which the Leafs blew a 4-1 third period lead to lose 5-4 in OT. It's not a memory that Toronto fans want to re-live, but if they need an experienced helping hand in the crease in case of emergency, would they ever consider it? The 37-year-old started 21 games last season, largely for the Buffalo Sabres, and posted an .896 Sv% and 3.04 GAA.