Leafs have to ‘dig into’ Woll’s history of getting injured
The issue is one that will occupy some of Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving’s thoughts this summer.
How do the Maple Leafs get a handle on goalie Joseph Woll’s history of injuries?
The latest came in Game 6 of the first round against the Boston Bruins, when Woll sprained his back in a failed attempt to stop a shot by Bruins forward Morgan Geekie in the final second.
Had Woll not been hurt on the play, he would have been in goal for Game 7 two nights later and there’s a better chance we would be sitting here discussing the Leafs Florida Panthers.
Instead, Ilya Samsonov, whose goaltending was good in the series, but not on par with that of Woll, went in net and the Leafs lost 2-1 in overtime.
Woll watched from the sideline yet again, continuing an injury trend that has seen him play in just 36 games in the past three seasons.
“I’ve got faith in Joe,” Treliving said on Friday. “The biggest question about Joe is he’s getting injured a lot. We have to dig into that.
“Sometimes that happens, sometimes bad luck happens. Is there a training issue that we have to deal with?
“We need to change something in his off-ice routine.”
A solution is crucial because Woll is the only Leafs goalie at the NHL level under contract for next season. If he’s going to be the main guy going forward, the Leafs have to find a way to keep him in the crease.
It doesn’t help, of course, that the Leafs have trouble scoring in the playoffs, no matter who is in goal for Toronto.
“We certainly have to try to put ourselves in a position that we don’t have the second-best goaltender in each of these series (in recent years),” Treliving said. “I think it’s a function of not just our goaltending, but what we do to make things difficult on the other team’s goaltender.”