The Maple Leafs announced they’ve activated goaltender Joseph Woll from long-term injured reserve and also recalled top prospect Easton Cowan from AHL Toronto. In a pair of corresponding transactions, they returned goaltender Artur Akhtyamov to the AHL and placed captain Auston Matthews on injured reserve. Toronto wasn’t dipping into its LTIR pool, so creating cap space wasn’t an issue regarding Woll’s activation.
While Woll has been activated from LTIR, they haven’t yet specified whether he’s been recalled from the conditioning stint that has had him suiting up in the minors for the last week. If they do summon him, he could be in line for his first start of the season tomorrow against the Blackhawks. The 27-year-old netminder departed the team in the first few days of training camp for personal reasons and was away for over a month before beginning the return-to-play process in late October. He got in a few practices before being assigned to the Marlies on a conditioning stint to get into game action. In his first minor-league showing in two years, he logged a .885 SV% and 3.72 GAA with a 0-1-1 record in two starts.
The Leafs hope Woll can provide better numbers in his return than what he showed in that small AHL sample. Toronto’s crease has been a mess after churning out some of the league’s best goaltending in 2024-25. Starter Anthony Stolarz, who was overworked in Woll’s absence and is now day-to-day with an upper-body injury, has struggled to the tune of an .884 SV% and has allowed 5.3 goals above expected in 13 starts, per MoneyPuck. The team claimed Cayden Primeau off waivers from the Hurricanes at the beginning of the season to serve as Stolarz’s backup in Woll’s absence, but he faltered with an. 838 SV% and allowed a whopping 6.8 goals above expected in just three starts before being waived again and re-claimed by Carolina.
Third-stringer Dennis Hildeby has been forced into action in the past several days with Primeau’s loss and Stolarz’s injury, and he’s been the best of the bunch. Despite a 0-2-1 record in two starts and two relief appearances, he’s logged a highly respectable .904 SV% behind a lapsing defense and has stopped 1.6 goals above expected.
Until Stolarz’s short-term absence comes to an end, it looks to be Hildeby’s and Woll’s crease. While injuries and other long-term absences have been a consistent hindering factor for the once-promising prospect, Woll has performed at a legitimate starter’s level when given the runway. He started a career-high 41 games last year in what was his second season as a full-time NHLer, rattling off a 27-14-1 record with a .909 SV% and 2.73 GAA. He wasn’t on the level of Stolarz’s league-leading .926 SV%, but still ranked 11th in the NHL with 16.8 goals saved above expected.
Getting top-15 play out of Woll again won’t be a permanent fix to the Leafs’ league-worst 3.83 goals against per game, but it should stop the bleeding enough to give them a chance to get themselves back into the playoff conversation. Now on a four-game winless streak, the reigning Atlantic Division champions are second-last in the division with an 8-8-2 record.
As for Akhtyamov, he’d been recalled to serve as Hildeby’s backup for last night’s overtime loss to the Kings. He promptly returns to the minors, where he has a .894 SV% in six games, in place of Woll.
Goaltending isn’t the only position the Leafs are shaking up today, though. Cowan, the team’s first-round pick in 2023, will be getting his second call-up of the season after essentially spending the first month of the campaign on the active roster. The 20-year-old winger got reps in top-line minutes with Matthew Knies and Auston Matthews, but also spent a good chunk of time on the third line with Dakota Joshua and Nicolas Roy. With Matthews out for the time being, it’s unclear where he’ll slot in this time around.
Cowan is in his first pro season after starring in back-to-back OHL title runs for the London Knights. He averaged 12:33 of ice time through his first 10 NHL games and was noticeably involved, rattling off 15 shots on goal on 30 attempts. That only resulted in one goal and three assists, but more production will inevitably come with that kind of chance generation. He’s also managed an assist in two AHL games since being reassigned earlier in the month.
Matthews’ IR placement is simply a formality for roster juggling purposes. He’s already been ruled day-to-day with a lower-body issue and was expected to miss about a week after leaving Tuesday’s loss to the Bruins. The seven-day minimum doesn’t affect his return timeline in a meaningful way, aside from being officially ruled out for another two games. He could return next Thursday against the Blue Jackets.