Maple Leafs' goalie not expected back for rest of regular season

It will be the third straight game that the Leafs will have a goalie on an amateur tryout serve as the backup. The first two were due to salary cap issues, as the Leafs didn’t have enough cap space to recall Woll to play as the backup if they also wanted to sign Matthew Knies to an entry-level contract.

After playing a man short the past two games, the Leafs finally earned an emergency recall, so Woll can play for the Leafs for their final two games, but due to an ailing injury to Samsonov, they signed Onuska to an ATO for Tuesday’s game to serve as the backup.

Samsonov first appeared to injure himself on Saturday when he tweaked something in his leg making a save, and while there was some concern that he’d have to leave, he ended up playing through the majority of the game. There were a few additional plays during Monday’s game that also seemed like they didn’t help his injury either.

Now that the Leafs can call up Woll, they’ll keep Samsonov out of the lineup to rest him for the playoffs, which he’ll most likely be the starter for considering both his play this season and the injury to Matt Murray. Samsonov finishes the year with a 27-10-5 record in 42 games played this season, with a .919 save percentage, four shutouts, and 21.24 5v5 goals saved above expected which ranked eighth in the league.

Woll will serve as the starter for the final two games, and he’s been excellent in his five appearances in the NHL this season, with a 4-1-0 record, a .932 save percentage, and 4.05 5v5 goals saved above expected. He also has a 16-4-1 record and a .927 save percentage in 21 games for the Toronto Marlies in the AHL.

Onuska is today’s backup goalie for the Leafs after finishing up his season in the OHL with the Windsor Spitfires. He had a 17-11-4 record and a .868 save percentage in 33 games this season, as well as two losses and a .886 save percentage in three playoff games as the Spitfires were swept in the first round in upset fashion by the Kitchener Rangers.

Keefe also mentioned that center Auston Matthews, winger Mitch Marner, and defenseman Mark Giordano will sit out of tonight’s game against the Lightning for load management purposes. Considering that these two teams will face off in the first round of the playoffs, they also likely don’t want to show too much of their hand against them either. The only real concern is that it puts Marner’s 100-point chase in jeopardy, as he currently sits at 99 points on the year.