Reaction: Toronto Maple Leafs Take Big Goaltending Risk With Woll Trade
The Toronto Maple Leafs have goalies of the future, including Artur Akhtyamov, who has the AHL's Marlies two wins away from the Calder Cup. Trading Joseph Woll could be a stroke of brilliance, but it's a risk.
Video Transcript
Hi, everybody.
Well, the Carolina Hurricanes aren't even over their hangover yet, and we already have a significant off-season trade between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Toronto Maple Leafs, with the Toronto Maple Leafs sending goalie Joseph Woll and defenseman Simon Benoit to the Philadelphia Flyers for goalie Samuel Ersson and defenseman Emil Andre.
and Emil Andre and Samuel Ersson are both restricted free agents with arbitration rights.
Doubt either of them will go to arbitration with the numbers that they have put up, in their careers.
so basically, a couple of restricted free agents in exchange for Joe Woll and Simon Benoit.
And what this tells me is that the Toronto Maple Leafs have found their goalie of the future, and it's not Samuel Ersson, and it's not Stolarz.
It's not Anthony Stolarz.
It's a young man by the name of Artur Akhtyamov, and right now he is in the midst of a Calder Cup run with the Toronto Marlies.
he has been a huge, huge factor in the fact that the Toronto Marlies, who finished seventh in the Eastern Conference in the regular season, are now, at this moment as we speak, going into game three with a two-nothing lead in the Calder Cup final over the Chicago Wolves.
And I think what this, this signifies is that, as I said, the Maple Leafs have found their goalie of the future in Artur Akhtyamov.
now, there is some risk here, without question.
Joseph Woll wasn't very good this past season.
there appears to be something between him and the organization.
He had a mysterious, if you'll remember at the beginning of the year, he had a mysterious, leave of absence that was never really explained.
I don't know how much that has to do with this, but clearly the Leafs have identified that they need to move on from Joseph Woll, and they are trusting their goaltending, their future of their goaltending to Akhtyamov.
Now, this is laden with risk for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Joseph Woll, for as, as middling as he was last season, is an NHL goaltender and has a lot of potential.
And you could certainly see a situation where he goes to Philadelphia, grabs the crease, runs with it, and becomes a star in the NHL.
but, the Leafs, I think, are hoping that Artur Akhtyamov will be able to do exactly the same thing when he, comes to be the backup in Toronto next year.
I believe that they will sign Ersson to a two-way deal and probably put him in with the Ar- Marlies and bring Akhtyamov up as, at least at, at, at the beginning, Jose- Anthony Stolarz's backup, maybe even the number one guy.
Now, as I said, there's risk involved here.
Artur Akhtyamov has been excellent at the AHL level, has done nothing at the NHL level.
Played three games and was okay in those three NHL appearances that he had this year.
you know, there are a lot of goalies who, and a guy like Caiden Primeau comes to mind.
The, you know, the, the puck's a beach ball in the AHL, and it's a pea in the NHL.
they just can't seem to translate their game from the American Hockey League to the National Hockey League, and that is definitely a risk.
But it looks like it's a risk that the Toronto Maple Leafs are willing to take.
For the Hockey News, I'm Ken Campbell.
