Joseph Woll’s return to Maple Leafs has gone from a desire to a need

It’s been a nightmarish start to the year for Stolarz, who signed a four-year extension with the Maple Leafs ahead of the season. Poor performance immediately after signing a new contract is never ideal and will put more eyeballs on you than usual, but it’s too early to say that Stolarz duped the team and got paid more than he’s worth. More likely is the reality that Stolarz is exactly what he’s paid to be, which is a good tandem goaltender, and he’s probably played too much over the past month. He may have been able to thrive in a similar situation last season but doing it once doesn’t mean it’s going to be a given every time, and the reality is that he’s already played a third of the games he did by the end of last season.

Stolarz was reportedly injured at first intermission against the Bruins on Tuesday night, which is not ideal considering it leaves Dennis Hildeby (who has been fine) as their only option in net, but if Woll is truly on the cusp of returning, it might be a well-timed break for Stolarz as well. It’s normal for a goaltender to go through bouts where they’re struggling, and for somebody like Stolarz, who has a pretty strong mental game and doesn’t get rattled too easily, there’s reason to believe it won’t last forever. But, the fact of the matter is that he has only had a save percentage (SV%) above .900 in four of 13 starts so far, which is a far cry from what he brought to the team last season. The Leafs certainly haven’t helped him all that much considering their struggles with defending off the rush and just defending in general, but at the same time, you just need a save from your goaltender every now and then.

On paper, it looks like the Leafs are about to throw Woll into the fire, which sounds like a disastrous plan, but in reality, it could be just what the Leafs need to establish some stability and calm the masses a little bit. Like Stolarz, Woll has a strong mental game. He rarely uses social media and has spoken in the past about the importance of flushing poor performances and bad memories, hammering the idea that you have to keep your mind focused on the present. We don’t know how he will look in terms of conditioning, considering that his reason for missing the first month of the season is still unknown, but he will have a couple of games with the Toronto Marlies to get his mojo back before he steps foot in an NHL game again.

The reality is that even though this could be seen as a situation where the Leafs’ season solely relies on how Woll performs when he comes back, that’s not necessarily true. At this point, a change and some stability could be all they need to get back into the swing of things. As much as we want to claim the sky is falling and that the Leafs are going to miss the playoffs or whatnot, they’re not beyond fixing. Hell, they just won three games in a row before their most recent three game losing streak, so it’s not like the ability to win games isn’t there. It’s just been a bad combination of poor defensive coverage and a big-time speed bump in net. Woll coming back and stopping 28 of 30 shots en route to a 3-2 win could be all the team needs to find some momentum. If he returns and struggles the same way Stolarz does, then they will have legitimate issues that might be beyond saving this season, but there’s no reason to believe that’s how things will go as of right now.

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