The Toronto Maple Leafs are looking at the trade market for their goaltending, according to multiple NHL insiders, including Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Right now, Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz are set as the NHL tandem, but there’s a bit of a squeeze behind them. Dennis Hildeby and Artur Akhtyamov are both pushing from the AHL side with the Marlies.
Reports suggest major goalie trade coming for the Leafs
The main thing driving this is Hildeby’s waiver situation. He’s about to lose his exemption, which means next season the Maple Leafs wouldn’t be able to send him down without exposing him to waivers. And with his size and how he’s played so far, there’s a real chance another team would just claim him.
So rather than risk losing him for nothing, Toronto is at least listening to what’s out there for all of their goalies.
Akhtyamov’s name is in the mix too. He’s had a solid run with the Marlies, and teams around the league are always looking for goaltending depth, so he’s drawn some interest as well. However, according to Friedman, the Maple Leafs are very high on him. Therefore, it is unlikely that they would want to trade him, as they see him as a piece of the future within the organization.
The timing of these rumours lines up with the calendar. The draft is June 26, and free agency opens July 1, so this is the point where teams usually start poking around and seeing what’s possible. And for Toronto, who is expected to make some fairly big changes, trying to trade one of their four goalies, more specifically, Stolarz or Woll, makes a ton of sense.
Ideally, the trade would include Stolarz, who is the oldest goalie among the four. He’s also shown over his career that he is extremely injury-prone and has his new $3.75 million contract kicking in as of July 1. So, it would be better to move him out and give one of Hildeby or Akhtyamov a chance at the backup role.
Nothing is decided yet, but the Maple Leafs do have options here, and depending on how the next few weeks go, this could turn into something more concrete.
