MONTREAL — It wasn’t the only question with Joseph Woll this season, but it was the biggest one: Could he stay healthy?
The Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t even played a game yet and already Woll is hurt. It will be Anthony Stolarz starting the opener in Montreal, not Woll, who couldn’t play in Game 7 last spring because of injury and is now dealing with another undisclosed ailment.
“Woll experienced some lower-body tightness (on Tuesday),” Leafs coach Craig Berube said. “It’s precautionary, so we’re gonna keep him out tonight.”
Berube didn’t know whether Woll would be available to play in New Jersey on Thursday night, though it seems unlikely given his inability to play on Wednesday. Dennis Hildeby appears set to back up Stolarz against the Canadiens and could make his NHL debut a night later against the Devils.
Whether the injury is minor or not, this is obviously a troubling start for Woll, 26, who the Leafs chose to extend on the first possible day last summer. This is supposed to be the year that Woll takes over as the guy in the Leafs’ crease.
Doing that means being healthier and available to play a lot more often than he has been in the past. Woll has struggled to stay healthy throughout his pro career. He missed 35 games last season, his first full season with the Leafs, due to a high ankle sprain. He relieved Ilya Samsonov to brilliant effect in the playoffs only for injury to keep him out of Game 7 against the Boston Bruins, a loss for the Leafs.
The Leafs exited last season determined to find a way, somehow, to keep him healthier this season. GM Brad Treliving spoke Tuesday about addressing his mechanics and core.
“Guys can get hurt,” Treliving said. “We hopefully spent lots of time working at it, but that doesn’t mean – sometimes luck runs in the way. I know he’s worked really hard, like he’s had a really good summer, he’s really fit. We’re hopeful he can stay healthy … stuff happens.”
Whether it was precautionary or not, Woll played only one full game in the preseason and half of another. There was a moment during practice at one point in training camp when he appeared to injure himself on a shot. He showed signs of discomfort but remained in the practice.
It was a reminder of the challenge he would face all season. The Leafs could have let Woll play out his current contract and see if he could not only stay healthy but perform at a high level. They chose to sign him instead to a three-year extension on July 1, with a cap hit of $3.66 million. They hoped to save in the long term in the event that Woll took off this season.
That decision could become problematic if Woll can’t stay on the ice this season. The Leafs decided to complement Woll with someone in Stolarz who hasn’t started more than 24 games in an NHL season.
Not having Woll would mean having to rely more on Stolarz than may be ideal as well as the unproven Hildeby and returning Matt Murray.
Woll has plenty of time to turn this around and stay healthy. But, clearly, this wasn’t the way he or the Leafs wanted this to begin.
(Photo: Claus Andersen / Getty Images)
