Toronto will have Martin Jones, Dennis Hildeby, and Keith Petruzzelli as their goaltenders to begin the season.
Toronto will have Martin Jones, Dennis Hildeby, and Keith Petruzzelli as their goaltenders to begin the season.
The Toronto Marlies have been a development-first team, and that will continue this season with an influx of goaltenders.
While Ilya Samsonov and Joseph Woll are the one-two punch at the NHL level, the Marlies have a triad of goalies looking for time in the net. Keith Petruzzelli and Dennis Hildeby are prospects looking to put a stamp on their development in the AHL this season.
And then there's Martin Jones, an NHL veteran who's played over 400 games in the league, who just cleared waivers.
"If I'm completely honest, we're a little bit surprised that he got through waivers and arrived here with us," said Marlies GM Ryan Hardy on Thursday.
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There's a balancing act needed in the foreseeable future from both Marlies head coach John Gruden and Hardy. How do you keep Jones prepared for a call-up if there's an injury on the Maple Leafs while still developing Petruzzelli and Hildeby?
It's a difficult question to answer.
"Our primary focus — and Brad (Treliving) has reiterated this really from the moment he got here — is on developing players and developing prospects," Hardy said.
"I think what we'll do here in the short-term is probably let Petruzzelli and Hildeby take the net for a little while, make sure we're getting enough opportunity for Martin Jones to stay fresh and get experience in here.
"Every time I think with a goalie plan, you lay out a plan, injuries happen, weird things happen and goalie is a funny position, so I've got a plan, it'll probably adjust next week, and we'll go forward as best we can."
Gruden, on Wednesday, defined having three goaltenders as a good problem to have. And obviously, with a veteran like Jones, that both Hildeby and Petruzzelli will see every day, there's a great deal to learn. That's the positive.
But as you go through a season, the balancing act becomes more difficult. As much as Toronto wants to develop the next Maple Leafs goaltender of the future, they need to be winning games too.
Winning fosters development more than anything, and if you're not doing that, a step in the wrong direction could be taken. It's an always-swinging pendulum that Toronto needs to stay on the right side of.
There are two steps of development for goaltenders in my opinion. First, you need to be able to make the stops needed at the AHL level, which both Hildeby and Petruzzelli have proved. The next part though, which is consistency, is an entirely different beast.
Some goaltenders gather it more quickly. For others, it might take a few seasons. It's incredibly difficult to find consistency in the AHL when having the net primarily to yourself, let alone sharing the crease with two more goaltenders.
But as Joseph Woll proved last season, if there's a will, there's a way.
"Early on, it's probably going to be more rotation-based," Gruden said of his goaltending plan on Thursday. "Because guys are going to need their reps and reps aren't the same in practice as they are in a game.
"So, it's something we'll all lean on each other for and we'll discuss, but at the end of the day, they all have to stay sharp."
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