<p>The Maple Leafs goaltending situation has almost been too good to be true this season. Of course, if you&#8217;ve been following the Leafs for more than a year it is clear that everything is too good to be true and when you start thinking that you&#8217;ve got a Vezina calibre goaltender and Jennings calibre tandem, it&#8217;s only a matter of time until things come crashing down to earth. Stolarz and Woll were always going to be taking on a bigger workload than either has ever experienced and playing more tends to increase the possibility of injuries, and here they are. The good news is that Woll is still lights out, the bad news is that with a couple of back-to-backs over the next week, he won&#8217;t be able to go it entirely on his own.</p>
<p>Here are this week&#8217;s abbreviated thoughts:</p>
<h2>Hildeby gets his chance to show improvement</h2>
<p>Matt Murray is also injured so the Leafs goaltending recall options are Akhtyamov and Hildeby. Understandably there is a lot of excitement around Akhtyamov at the moment but giving up on Hildeby because of a lacklustre year in the AHL and rough final game in the NHL is ridiculous. His recall allows for the best of both worlds where Akhtyamov gets to run with the Marlies net and Hildeby gets a chance to show consistency in the NHL and regain some confidence.</p>
<p>The AHL and Swedish league have allowed Hildeby to be heavily reliant on his size. Hildeby&#8217;s NHL experience showed that there is a need for speed and Hildeby&#8217;s struggles in the AHL this year reflect him applying learning to adapt to a style that will make him more successful in the NHL. The .897 save percentage on the Marlies and .869 on the Maple Leafs reflect a goaltender growing and learning, and I think most people know and acknowledge that, as well as there being plenty of evidence showing that goaltending measures of success are almost never linear. More reps are a good thing, and the Leafs should take advantage of the situation.</p>
<p>This weekend the Leafs have the Red Wings and Sabres, both opponents that the Leafs should be comfortable using Hildeby against. Next weekend features the Sabres and Islanders, again, opponents that aren&#8217;t huge offensive concerns. It was the Blue Jackets that lit up Hildeby though, so there is no taking the opponent for granted either.</p>
<p>Using Hildeby also sets a bit of a baseline for what the Maple Leafs team defence can accomplish. How much has the team in front of the Leafs net improved since Hildeby last appeared on October 22nd.</p>
<p>The Leafs might be optimistic about Stolarz&#8217; time to return, but given that the Leafs will be pushing Stolarz and Woll to career highs in games, it seems like the schedule is allowing for a nice couple week break for their starter and second look for one of their top goaltending prospects.</p>
<h2>Reimagining the third pairing</h2>
<p>It&#8217;s a good sign to be writing about the third defensive pairing because that means there isn&#8217;t a need to freak out over the first or second pairings. If there is a concern about those pairings it is probably that if there is an injury in one of those pairings there is a huge skill gap between the top four and the bottom pairing options, who in a perfect world, all of Simon Benoit, Conor Timmins, and Phillipe Myers would be the 7th defenceman, not every night options.</p>
<p>There is absolutely an opportunity for Brad Treliving to explore an upgrade on the blueline at some point, but in the meantime it would be interesting to see if Toronto explores a bit of who they have on the Marlies.</p>
<p>Matt Benning still hasn&#8217;t found a new home and with Conor Timmins regressing of late, Benning might be a solid option for a look, even if it ends up just being to showcase him for trade.</p>
<p>Mikko Kokkonen and Marshall Rifai might be very similar to what the Leafs are already getting from Simon Benoit but is there value in getting them some increased exposure to NHL hockey, especially now that Dakota Mermis has been claimed and they are the options on the left side going forward.</p>
<p>And perhaps most importantly there should still be some curiosity about Topi Niemela. Even if the Leafs don&#8217;t see him as a fit under Craig Berube and his size is a viewed as a barrier. Seeing if he can put together a few solid NHL games prior to the NHL trade deadline might allow for him becoming an important trade chip at a time when the Leafs should be thinking about maximizing their chances this season.</p>
<p>The Leafs blueline has been healthy (outside of Hakanpaa) and that has resulted in very little usage outside of the top seven options. The stability has been good, but the play of the bottom pairing still leaves a lot to be desired. Finding opportunities to test internal upgrades should be part of the Leafs plans when their roster space allows it.</p>
<h2>Maxed out Domi</h2>
<p>Finally, it&#8217;s hard to find any positives in Domi&#8217;s season so far. (Now that this has been written you can pencil him for a goal and a multi-point night.)</p>
<p>Domi has struggled offensively and frankly doesn&#8217;t have any other elements of his game to fall back on. His results might have been skewed a bit by the reliance on Max as a centre to start the year and throughout this season Domi hasn&#8217;t played as much with the players he had success with last year, but having to accommodate him rather than looking at him as a potential driver of offence is a problem unto itself and with a few more years committed, the question is whether Domi is the right fit for the Leafs going forward or whether Toronto should cash out as soon as possible.</p>
<p>I bring up the idea of trading Domi with a specific matchmaker scenario in mind and it is one of the places that most former Leafs tend to wind up, the Chicago Blackhawks. Domi&#8217;s salary is not a burden for the Blackhawks and with an absence of offensive veterans in their lineup, Domi could quickly find himself being a playmaker for Connor Bedard, addressing a need for Chicago as well. There is also the fact that Domi had success playing on a line with Tyler Bertuzzi and some of Max&#8217;s most productive hockey has already come in a Blackhawks jersey. I won&#8217;t overstate my case, but it seems like it is a potential landing spot.</p>
<p>The return isn&#8217;t so much the issue, as the Leafs removing salary prior to the trade deadline is the benefit in itself and the cap space frees up Brad Treliving to find a proper third line centre option.</p>
<p>That said, the Leafs probably still don&#8217;t want to do this. Max Domi wants to be a Leaf, and the Leafs players seem to like Max. Unfortunately, with Domi presently going 15 games without a point, and 26 games without a goal, a $3.75M AAV offensive player is a bust.</p>


The Maple Leafs goaltending situation has almost been too good to be true this season. Of course, if you've been following the Leafs for more than a year it is clear that everything is too good to be true and when you start thinking that you've got a Vezina calibre goaltender and Jennings calibre tandem, it's only a matter of time until things come crashing down to earth. Stolarz and Woll were always going to be taking on a bigger workload than either has ever experienced and playing more tends to increase the possibility of injuries, and here they are. The good news is that Woll is still lights out, the bad news is that with a couple of back-to-backs over the next week, he won't be able to go it entirely on his own.

Here are this week's abbreviated thoughts:
<h2>Hildeby gets his chance to show improvement</h2>
Matt Murray is also injured so the Leafs goaltending recall options are Akhtyamov and Hildeby. Understandably there is a lot of excitement around Akhtyamov at the moment but giving up on Hildeby because of a lacklustre year in the AHL and rough final game in the NHL is ridiculous. His recall allows for the best of both worlds where Akhtyamov gets to run with the Marlies net and Hildeby gets a chance to show consistency in the NHL and regain some confidence.

The AHL and Swedish league have allowed Hildeby to be heavily reliant on his size. Hildeby's NHL experience showed that there is a need for speed and Hildeby's struggles in the AHL this year reflect him applying learning to adapt to a style that will make him more successful in the NHL. The .897 save percentage on the Marlies and .869 on the Maple Leafs reflect a goaltender growing and learning, and I think most people know and acknowledge that, as well as there being plenty of evidence showing that goaltending measures of success are almost never linear. More reps are a good thing, and the Leafs should take advantage of the situation.

This weekend the Leafs have the Red Wings and Sabres, both opponents that the Leafs should be comfortable using Hildeby against. Next weekend features the Sabres and Islanders, again, opponents that aren't huge offensive concerns. It was the Blue Jackets that lit up Hildeby though, so there is no taking the opponent for granted either.

Using Hildeby also sets a bit of a baseline for what the Maple Leafs team defence can accomplish. How much has the team in front of the Leafs net improved since Hildeby last appeared on October 22nd.

The Leafs might be optimistic about Stolarz' time to return, but given that the Leafs will be pushing Stolarz and Woll to career highs in games, it seems like the schedule is allowing for a nice couple week break for their starter and second look for one of their top goaltending prospects.
<h2>Reimagining the third pairing</h2>
It's a good sign to be writing about the third defensive pairing because that means there isn't a need to freak out over the first or second pairings. If there is a concern about those pairings it is probably that if there is an injury in one of those pairings there is a huge skill gap between the top four and the bottom pairing options, who in a perfect world, all of Simon Benoit, Conor Timmins, and Phillipe Myers would be the 7th defenceman, not every night options.

There is absolutely an opportunity for Brad Treliving to explore an upgrade on the blueline at some point, but in the meantime it would be interesting to see if Toronto explores a bit of who they have on the Marlies.

Matt Benning still hasn't found a new home and with Conor Timmins regressing of late, Benning might be a solid option for a look, even if it ends up just being to showcase him for trade.

Mikko Kokkonen and Marshall Rifai might be very similar to what the Leafs are already getting from Simon Benoit but is there value in getting them some increased exposure to NHL hockey, especially now that Dakota Mermis has been claimed and they are the options on the left side going forward.

And perhaps most importantly there should still be some curiosity about Topi Niemela. Even if the Leafs don't see him as a fit under Craig Berube and his size is a viewed as a barrier. Seeing if he can put together a few solid NHL games prior to the NHL trade deadline might allow for him becoming an important trade chip at a time when the Leafs should be thinking about maximizing their chances this season.

The Leafs blueline has been healthy (outside of Hakanpaa) and that has resulted in very little usage outside of the top seven options. The stability has been good, but the play of the bottom pairing still leaves a lot to be desired. Finding opportunities to test internal upgrades should be part of the Leafs plans when their roster space allows it.
<h2>Maxed out Domi</h2>
Finally, it's hard to find any positives in Domi's season so far. (Now that this has been written you can pencil him for a goal and a multi-point night.)

Domi has struggled offensively and frankly doesn't have any other elements of his game to fall back on. His results might have been skewed a bit by the reliance on Max as a centre to start the year and throughout this season Domi hasn't played as much with the players he had success with last year, but having to accommodate him rather than looking at him as a potential driver of offence is a problem unto itself and with a few more years committed, the question is whether Domi is the right fit for the Leafs going forward or whether Toronto should cash out as soon as possible.

I bring up the idea of trading Domi with a specific matchmaker scenario in mind and it is one of the places that most former Leafs tend to wind up, the Chicago Blackhawks. Domi's salary is not a burden for the Blackhawks and with an absence of offensive veterans in their lineup, Domi could quickly find himself being a playmaker for Connor Bedard, addressing a need for Chicago as well. There is also the fact that Domi had success playing on a line with Tyler Bertuzzi and some of Max's most productive hockey has already come in a Blackhawks jersey. I won't overstate my case, but it seems like it is a potential landing spot.

The return isn't so much the issue, as the Leafs removing salary prior to the trade deadline is the benefit in itself and the cap space frees up Brad Treliving to find a proper third line centre option.

That said, the Leafs probably still don't want to do this. Max Domi wants to be a Leaf, and the Leafs players seem to like Max. Unfortunately, with Domi presently going 15 games without a point, and 26 games without a goal, a $3.75M AAV offensive player is a bust.

Hildeby returns, reimaging the Maple Leafs third pairing, and Max-ed out: Leaflets

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