Woll won't start Maple Leafs' season opener due to injury
Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll will miss the club's season opener on the road against the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night, Leafs head coach Craig Berube confirmed.
"Woll experienced some lower-body tightness (on Tuesday)," Berube said, according to The Athletic's Jonas Siegel."It's precautionary, so we're going to keep him out (Wednesday night)."
Anthony Stolarz will start in Woll's place. Berube hasn't ruled Woll out for Thursday's road contest versus the New Jersey Devils, per TSN's Mark Masters.
Woll missed time with injuries at several junctures last season. He suffered a high ankle sprain in early December that forced him out until late February, and he missed Game 7 of the Leafs' opening-round playoff loss to the Boston Bruins.
The 26-year-old went 12-11-1 with a .907 save percentage across 25 regular-season games in 2023-24. He won both of his playoff starts (Games 5 and 6 of the series against the Bruins) while stopping all but two of 56 shots over his three appearances.
Toronto extended Woll on a three-year pact at $3.66 million annually on July 1 and signed then-unrestricted free agent Stolarz to a two-year deal for $2.5 million per season on the same day.
Stolarz developed into one of the NHL's best backup netminders last season. The 30-year-old went 16-7-2 with a .925 save percentage over 27 games that led the league among puck-stoppers who played at least that many contests. He also got into one postseason game, stopping all but three of 19 shots in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final for the eventual champion Florida Panthers.
The Maple Leafs recalled goaltender Dennis Hildeby from their AHL affliate, the Toronto Marlies, on an emergency basis Wednesday.