The Toronto Maple Leafs recalled goaltender Dennis Hildeby earlier this morning with Joseph Woll missing the next few days due to “lower-body tightness“. It’s official the latter goaltender will miss at least the next three games with PuckPedia reporting the organization has placed him on injured reserve.
PuckPedia also shared that the organization has moved forward Connor Dewar to long-term injured reserve which puts their available cap space at $337K after today’s moves. Dewar has been nursing a shoulder injury suffered at the end of last season but did skate during training camp in a non-contact jersey.
The news doesn’t bode well for the organization as injury concerns have plagued Woll since he became the full-time goaltender last season. An ankle injury suffered last year lost him nearly two months of the regular season limiting him to only 25 games played. The Maple Leafs brought in a solid insurance option this summer in Anthony Stolarz but the team prefers to have both netminders healthy and available.
Other Atlantic notes:
- Although many of the headlines will be taken by Mitch Marner’s extension negotiations, the Maple Leafs have another big one to focus on. Pierre LeBrun writes in The Athletic that the organization has begun contract talks with center John Tavares who will become an unrestricted free agent next summer. LeBrun shares that there’s mutual understanding between Tavares and Toronto that there will be a pay cut upon his $11MM salary but the scale factor of change is still up in the air. That will make the extension negotiations more delicate but there is still a desire between both parties to extend their relationship.
- The Buffalo Sabres shared a report from the team’s practice earlier today showing forwards Zach Benson and John-Jason Peterka were back on the ice. They are both options for the team tomorrow night in their regular season opener in North America after sustaining minor injuries in the team’s games in Prague against the New Jersey Devils.
Hell, Tavares was never worth $11 MM to begin with; he produced (maybe) at that level his first year in Toronto, and that was that. Got to imagine that haircut will be four million at least, and if Tavares doesn’t like that, sayonara.
I don’t understand the rush to extend Tavares. He doesn’t want to leave Toronto so the Leafs have a lot of leverage. If I was Treliving I’d want to see how he produces in his age 34 season before committing to a deal that, presumably, takes him close to retirement.
If he has another season befitting of a 2C, that’s great. But I’d want to know that for sure before taking the cap hit reflective of a player who might produce like a 3C in the very near future.
If the Leafs don’t learn the hard lessons of past negotiations then they’re truly doomed.
I think of Tavares right now as a lesser version of Geno Malkin: someone who can still produce at a top six level, but is clearly in decline, isn’t worth the salary he’s getting, and never will again. Tavares sure doesn’t *suck*, but.