It was very clear heading into the summer that the Toronto Maple Leafs would have to trade a goalie.
They had a logjam with Anthony Stolarz, Joseph Woll and a couple of younger netminders, as well.
They also, as it turns out, had their eyes on the veteran free agent Sergei Bobrovsky.
All of that added up to a trade setup. It was just a matter of which veteran would get moved.
The end result was a Woll trade to the Philadelphia Flyers. It made sense for the Flyers to add Woll to their goalie depth chart with Dan Vladar.
The Woll trade, though, could also be viewed through a different lens: Who didn’t end up with the useful goalie?
The answer: the Edmonton Oilers.
Woll Could’ve Helped Oilers
That’s a case made in a new article from Sunday by Sportsnet’s Michael Amato.
He breaks down the mess in goal right now in Edmonton and wonders if the Oilers could’ve done things differently.
And then in a long, in-depth paragraph, Amato points out that the Oilers could’ve made a number of different choices, including with Woll.
“The Toronto Maple Leafs moved two goalies this summer, including Joseph Woll, who has good career numbers and could probably be counted on as at least a 1B,” Amato writes. “Sergei Bobrovsky, a two-time Cup and Vezina winner who is a future Hall of Famer, also hit the market. Then there’s Connor Hellebuyck, who demanded a trade months ago and is still sitting at home. Granted, some of these things may be out of the Oilers’ control, like whether Bobrovsky had interest in Edmonton or if Hellebuyck would even waive his no-move clause for a Canadian team. But it certainly does feel like solidifying the goaltending hasn’t been as big of a priority as it should be in Edmonton.”
Woll likely would’ve been easier for the Oilers than Bobrovsky just from a salary perspective, but even that Bobrovsky side of the loop that ended with Toronto left Edmonton out of the picture.
It’s not clear whether the Oilers called the Maple Leafs about any of their goalies, but it seems that should’ve at least been a conversation.
Maple Leafs’ Joseph Woll Post-Script
The Leafs are feeling just fine after the Woll trade. They ended up using a defenseman they got in that deal, Emil Andrae, as part of the trade to bring in Kirill Marchenko from the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Toronto is rolling with Bobrovsky and Stolarz in net to open the season. As long as that duo stays healthy, it’s a high-end pairing.
Bobrovsky obviously has his recent Stanley Cup successes with the Florida Panthers, and the Leafs would love to get back to the postseason this year.
Toronto probably won’t miss Woll too much. Instead, it’s the teams that the Maple Leafs never traded Woll to in the first place that might actually wind up missing him the most, even though they never had him.
Maple Leafs’ Joseph Woll Trade Could’ve Helped Team Other Than Flyers