Maple Leafs make goaltending blockbuster with Flyers

The Toronto Maple Leafs are still looking for a head coach. Joe Pavelski and Bruce Cassidy have recently expressed their interest in the job, but if they get the job, they will not be coaching two of the players from last season.

The Maple Leafs and Philadelphia Flyers have completed the first major trade of the 2026 offseason, according to a release from the team.

The Leafs have sent goaltender Joseph Woll and defenseman Simon Benoit to the Flyers in exchange for blueliner Emil Andrae, netminder Samuel Ersson, and a 2026 third-round pick in the NHL Draft.

Woll is the biggest name in the trade. Woll took a personal leave of absence early in the 2025-26 campaign, but returned to have a solid year. He started 39 games, going 15-16-7 with a 3.34 goals-against average and a .899 save percentage. Still, he was much better in the prior years. In 2024-25, Woll went 27-14-1 with a 2.73 goals against average and a .909 save percentage.

He will move to Philly, likely as the backup to Dan Vladar, who was the main man for the Flyers this past year, and still has one year left on his deal. Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs get Samuel Ersson back to replace Woll. He was the primary starter for the Flyers in 2023-24 and 2024-25, but moved behind Vladar this past season.

The Flyers get Simon Benoit, who is a physical defender, but brings little to the offensive side of the ice. He will likely join the third rotation of the defense in Philadelphia. While the Flyers will improve some on defense with Benoit, they have created a top-quality goaltending tandem, something that was needed.

Ersson was dreadful this past season and was not an option. When Vladar struggled in the playoffs, they could not make a switch, similar to what the Carolina Hurricanes did in the playoffs. Now, the Flyers have that tandem as they look to return to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2011 and 2012.