The Toronto Maple Leafs made a move many saw coming for quite some time. The transaction itself didn’t surprise anyone, but the update thereafter was relatively confusing.
First, the club placed goaltender Joseph Woll on LTIR on Friday. The move wasn’t a major surprise considering Woll has not even hit the ice this season. The 27-year-old took a personal leave of absence for unknown reasons.
So, the club and media have respected Woll’s privacy. Fair enough. The Maple Leafs did not provide any additional details regarding the nature of the leave of absence. Assuming it’s a deeply personal issue, well, everyone deserves space for their personal lives.
The leave of absence has dragged on into the first month of the season, and now, Woll will be officially out for another month or so.
Under LTIR rules, players miss at least 10 games and 24 days of the season. That situation means Woll cannot return to the ice until both conditions are fulfilled.
The Maple Leafs have been flying under the salary cap. But by placing Woll on LTIR, the team now has an additional $3.66 million in cap space.
But the big question is: Why wait until now to place Woll on LTIR? If the club knew he wasn’t going to be playing anytime soon? Why not just place him on LTIR from the start of the season? Perhaps the Maple Leafs were hoping Woll would be back sooner.
But whatever his specific situation, it has dragged out long enough to necessitate placement on LTIR.
Maple Leafs Announce Woll Rejoining Team
In a relatively confusing update, the Maple Leafs announced that Woll would be rejoining the team as he seeks to return to the ice.
That’s wonderful news for Maple Leafs fans. The club needs Woll back in the fold to support Anthony Stolarz as the season schedule gets tighter and tighter.
As The Athletic noted, the Leafs could make the LTIR placement retroactive to the season opener, October 8. That move would allow Woll to return on November 1.
But still, if that’s the case, why place Woll on LTIR in the first place? It seems like a paper transaction, but it could be one that the club may seek to make in order to bring up another defenseman from the AHL to replace Chris Tanev without exceeding the cap ceiling.
Otherwise, why make the move now?
Beginning of LTIR Date Will Say Much about Toronto’s Plans Moving Forward
PuckPedia shows Woll’s estimated return date as November 1. That projection coincides with The Athletic’s assessment of the situation. In which case, the move is purely a paper transaction aimed at buying the Maple Leafs time while other injured players return to the lineup.
But if the date of Woll’s placement LTIR begins at a later date, it could mean that a bigger move is looming on the horizon. The Maple Leafs will need more cap space to fit in one or more contracts under the cap.
Considering that Morgan Rielly will also be out of the lineup for Friday’s tilt against the Buffalo Sabres, the Maple Leafs may need to bring up several blueliners to replace the wounded blueliners.
As for Woll, the expectation is that he won’t be far off from returning to the crease. Fans shouldn’t rule out a conditioning stint in the AHL before he formally returns to the team.
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