Woll has had a history of injuries since he was drafted by the club in 2016.
Woll has had a history of injuries since he was drafted by the club in 2016.
MONTREAL — It looks like the goaltending storyline surrounding the Toronto Maple Leafs will never end as Joseph Woll will not dress for the club's 2024-25 regular season debut.
Anthony Stolarz is set to make his Maple Leafs debut when the club takes on the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre in Montreal on Wednesday, while Dennis Hildeby has been called up to back him up.
"Woll experienced some lower-body tightness yesterday," Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said before the club's morning skate. "We'll keep him out tonight."
When asked if Woll would be available for the team's game on Thursday against the New Jersey Devils, Berube said "We'll see tomorrow."
Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman first broke word that the club brought Hildeby on the trip to Montreal.
Going into this season there were concerns about Woll's health given he was unavailable to play in the team's critical Game 7 against the Boston Bruins in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7V9OHc_f4M[/embed]
Six days ago, Woll appeared to be labouring on his left side after stopping a shot from Auston Matthews. The goaltender remained at practice and was visibly strained throughout the session.
Despite that, Woll did play a whole 60 minutes in the team's final pre-season game, a 3-2 win against the Detroit Red Wings where he made 18 saves.
Following the team's final practice before their season opener, Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving was asked if he was confident Woll's injury concerns were behind him.
"Well, guys can get hurt, right? Like, that happens, you know. I don't know, "Treliving said. " We hopefully spent lots of time on working at it, but that doesn't mean, you know, sometimes luck runs in the way, right?
"I he's had a really good summer. He's really fit. We, you know, looked at some different things in terms of his mechanics and all those types of things and core. But he's always been dialed in with that. So, yeah, he's put in all the work. We're hopeful he can stay healthy. Stuff happens, but he's looked real good."
The Maple Leafs signed Woll to a three-year, $11 million extension which kicks in at the beginning of next season.
Hildeby was called up for a stretch last season when Woll was injured and Ilya Samsonov struggled in goal, although he never played. He posted a .947 save percentage in two pre-season contests.
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