Maple Leafs’ Joseph Woll likely to get AHL conditioning stint before NHL return

An update regarding one of the Toronto Maple Leafs‘ netminders.

When speaking to the media on Monday, general manager Brad Treliving stated that goaltender Joseph Woll has been skating for the past few weeks, slowly getting ready to return to action. With that, Treliving mentioned that there’s a chance that Woll might join the team’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, for a brief conditioning stint.

Woll was placed on long-term injured reserve this past Thursday, retroactive to earlier this month. Even though the 27-year-old is eligible to return to play on Nov. 1, Treliving stated that Woll won’t be ready by then. He was on the ice again on Monday, having rejoined the team for on-ice participation a few days ago.

Woll has yet to play a game this season, as he was granted a leave of absence late last month to address a personal matter. Anthony Stolarz has played the majority of the games in the early going, with the recently-acquired Cayden Primeau stepping into action a few times as well.

The Darenne Prairie, Mo. native had come off his best performance of his young NHL career. Even though he started the 2024-25 campaign on injured reserve, he made 41 starts, setting career highs in wins (27), goals-against average (2.73) and save percentage (.909) in a full season. His efforts, along with Stolarz, helped Toronto win its first division title in four years.

Woll played in each game of the Leafs’ second-round series against the Florida Panthers, though the team fell to the eventual Stanley Cup champions in seven games.

While you can’t necessarily blame Woll’s absence for the team’s sluggish start, the Leafs have been inconsistent throughout the first month of the season. Along with rough outings against teams like the Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabres, Toronto has been good enough to just hang around the .500 mark.

The Leafs (4-4-1) are scheduled to host the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night.