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The hockey mecca of the world has had a goaltending problem over the last few years, but it looks like they are going to have to deal with what they have.
Due to having Matt Murray on long-term injured reserve, and the rapid decline in the play of Ilya Samsonov, the Toronto Maple Leafs are facing a tandem featuring Joseph Woll and Martin Jones. Both goaltenders are very capable, but the question is, will they be good enough to help get the team over the hump in the playoffs.
Jones obviously has the pedigree, having led the San Jose Sharks to the 2016 Stanley Cup Finals, but he is not the same goaltender that he was seven years ago. He had a great start with the team’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, before making a couple of solid starts after getting called up.
Woll is currently nursing a high-ankle sprain that he suffered in early December, but if he can come back at 100%, he has shown great potential in being a No. 1 goaltender. However, he is unproven in the postseason, with Toronto facing a “trial by fire” if they ride Woll into the postseason.
For the time being, Dennis Hildeby is playing the role of backup until further notice.
On Tuesday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton gave his thoughts on if the duo will work out.
Carter Hutton: I think Martin Jones can be serviceable…he can be a stop-gap, but I don’t think he’s the guy that brings you to the Promise Land, where the Leafs want to go. My big concern in this whole situation, where’s Woll’s ankle going to be at? We just think Woll is going to come back, and get back to where he was, but an ankle injury is a horrible injury for a goalie.
You can watch the entire segment, and the full episode here…
More must-reads:
- Florida Panthers center Eetu Luostarinen suffers freak injury in 'barbecue accident'
- Adam Lowry's contract extension with Jets is another blow to 2026 NHL free agency
- The 'NHL all-time goal leaders' quiz
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Adam Lowry's contract extension with Jets is another blow to 2026 NHL free agency
Only a few short months ago, the 2026 UFA class looked like it could be one of the best in NHL history. But since then, the list has been thinned out quite quickly. Another player can now be crossed off that list as the Winnipeg Jets announced that they’ve signed center Adam Lowry to a five-year contract extension. The two sides were reported to be making progress on an extension earlier this month, so it’s not too surprising to see this get across the finish line. The 32-year-old is in the final season of his five-year, $16.25M deal signed back in 2021. He has never been a high-end offensive contributor in his 12-year NHL career (his highest point total is 36) but over the past few years, he has become a reliable two-way player. The captain has long been a sound defensive player who brought plenty of physicality to the table, and that’s a combination that is especially appealing in a team’s bottom six. TSN’s Darren Dreger adds that the deal will carry a $5M AAV and be worth $25M in total. Adam Lowry's outlook Lowry missed the start of the season while recovering from hip surgery but has jumped right back into his usual role since returning. In seven games, he has a goal and two assists along with 16 hits in 14:22 of playing time. For his career (spent in its entirety with the Jets who drafted him in the third round back in 2011), Lowry has 122 goals and 154 hits in 782 games. This deal represents a nice raise from his current $3.25M AAV while getting a long-term agreement for the second straight contract. While a $5M AAV for someone whose production is more in the third-line range, those other elements he brings made it likely that he could have landed a deal at or higher than this price point on the open market. Meanwhile, the Jets also get some much-needed stability down the middle. Mark Scheifele is also signed through 2030-31, meaning that Winnipeg has two of their top three centers in place for the long haul. GM Kevin Cheveldayoff still has some work to do to secure a long-term fit for their second center position (a role filled by Jonathan Toews this year), but that’s a strong foundation down the middle to build off of. With the signing, the Jets now have around $78.7M in commitments for the 2026-27 season, per PuckPedia. That gives them around $25M in cap room based on the projected $104M upper limit. Cole Perfetti, a pending restricted free agent with salary arbitration rights, will take up a good chunk of that but the rest of their pending free agents (all unrestricted) are for players more in depth roles. That could give Cheveldayoff a chance to try to make a splash to add another core piece to his roster, either via trade or free agency this summer. Murat Ates of The Athletic was the first to report that an extension had been agreed upon.
Shedeur Sanders makes promise to Browns fans ahead of first regular-season start
Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski announced on Wednesday that rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders will make the first regular-season start of his career when the 2-8 Browns play at the Las Vegas Raiders (2-8) this Sunday. Later on Wednesday, Sanders offered somewhat of a promise to Cleveland supporters who are hoping the fifth-round draft pick could potentially become a savior for the franchise. Shedeur Sanders wants to be "the guy" for the Browns "I know our fans have a lot of expectations and hope," Sanders acknowledged, per Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN. "And I would be doing a disservice to myself and a disservice to the organization if I didn't feel like I am the guy. ...I'm doing everything I need to prepare to be the best version of myself as possible. With the circumstances, everything got to be sped up, and that's great. I like pressure in life. I'm just excited for everything. So, I feel like I'm the guy. I know I'm the guy, but you just have to be able to see." Sanders made his regular-season debut against the Baltimore Ravens this past Sunday after fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel suffered a concussion. In total, Sanders completed 4-of-16 passes for 47 yards with no touchdowns and one interception in what became a 23-16 defeat. He was also sacked twice for a loss of 27 yards. Why Shedeur Sanders is confident he'll be better in second appearance Earlier in the week, Stefanski suggested the coaching staff is confident Sanders will play better after the 23-year-old gets first-team practice reps that were previously reserved for Gabriel. During his Wednesday media availability, Sanders echoed Stefanski's take. "I'm truly excited for that, knowing that I have a piece of [the] offense and a say so and how things fit my eye and place the players exactly where they need to be," Sanders added. "Seeing how they come in and out of routes, seeing the structure of the O-linemen, seeing their set, just having a feeling. I'm more of a feel type of person, so that's how I learn. That's how I do everything. I'm not just, 'Imma just watch it, it's just going to happen.' No, I got to be out there, feel it. I got to move around. It's like so many details that it takes for me to feel my best and play my best, and I'm doing everything in my power and the team's doing everything to help me get prepared." It remains to be seen if a more prepared version of Sanders will be able to relegate a healthy Gabriel to backup duties beyond Week 12. As of Wednesday afternoon, ESPN BET had the Browns as four-point underdogs against the Raiders.
Texas HC Steve Sarkisian gives bold claim on job rumors
Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian has been a popular name in both the NFL and college football coaching cycles. It makes sense, too. He's brought Texas back to being competitive and in the championship hunt, but he also has a wealth of great experience as an assistant in both college and the NFL. He's about as well-rounded a candidate as you'll find, so of course, programs like the Florida Gators, LSU Tigers or even the New York Giants may be interested to see if he's interested. The thing is, though, he's not. Or, at the very least, that's what he's telling the media. He's all-in with the Longhorns, according to comments he made on a recent SEC teleconference call. “I’d like to comment something before I get into our team that has been bothering me now over the past few weeks. That is people reporting that are insinuating that there’s a possibility I could leave the University of Texas, and that is absolutely false and untrue," Sarkisian said (h/t On3). "I’m not going anywhere. Never do I do this because I never want to be a distraction, so I never address these things. At this point, I feel like this is important that I do this because it’s important for our team. It’s important for our university." Steve Sarkisian has deep roots in Austin and is all-in with Texas As if that weren't clear enough, Sarkisian said that he has not had any discussions with anybody about coaching elsewhere. He even went as far as to say that even his agent hasn't spoken to anyone. Sometimes coaches can say publicly that they aren't talking about any opportunities while, in the meantime, their agents are working backchannels and putting something together. He could be lying, of course, because college football history is full of head coaches saying one thing and doing another. A full-throated statement like this seems to be a pretty clear indication that Sarkisian is serious about what he's saying, though. Heck, he went as far as calling Austin home, which is a pretty big deal for a coach to say. Those guys aren't used to staying in one place for too long. With that said, Sarkisian does have two kids actually enrolled at Texas, one on the football team. He has a third kid he wants to go to Texas in the near future. He also just had a baby. Sarkisian has roots in Austin. He also has high aspirations for the Longhorns. “We came here to win championships," he said. "We’ve built a damn good football program over the five years that we’ve been here. We’ve been to two College Football Playoffs. We won a Big 12 Championship. We went to the SEC Championship game in Year 1. We’ve had 23 players drafted the last two years, which is more than any other school in the country and our team GPA is at an all-time high. “Can we please stop putting things out there that you have absolutely zero evidence on? Can we please stop retweeting and putting it back out there as if it’s true? As if it’s the gospel? It is not true."
The Big Five: Most dangerous teams currently outside the playoff picture
With just a week until Thanksgiving, the NFL playoff picture is beginning to take shape. But seven weeks remain in the regular season, giving teams on the outside looking in time to turn things around. Below, we rank the five most dangerous teams currently not in the playoff field. 5. Houston Texans (5-5, eight in AFC) Remaining opponents stats | Record: 40-31 (.563) • Currently in playoff field: 4 • Above .500: 4 With a defense as good as Houston's, it can't be taken lightly despite a brutal remaining schedule. Over the Texans' final seven games, they only play two teams currently with a losing record — the Arizona Cardinals (3-7) and Las Vegas Raiders (2-8). With C.J. Stroud (concussion) out for Sunday's game against the Buffalo Bills (7-3), the team's hopes of remaining in contention will be even tougher. But Houston has won its past two games with Davis Mills at quarterback, thanks in large part to a defense allowing 221 yards per game. The Texans have the league's longest active streak of holding opponents under 200 passing yards (seven games), per Stathead research. In addition to the Bills, the Texans play the Indianapolis Colts (8-2) twice, Kansas City Chiefs (5-5) and Los Angeles Chargers (7-4), teams that can put up points. Houston, which is No. 21 in scoring offense (22 points per game), likely won't be able to keep pace in shootouts — even when Stroud returns — so it must lean on the defense to complete the long trek from 0-3 to the playoffs. 4. Dallas Cowboys (4-5-1, 10th in NFC) Remaining opponents stats | Record: 35-38 (.479) • Currently in playoff field: 2 • Above .500: 3 While we can't glean much from Dallas' convincing Monday night win over the directionless Raiders, it was still telling that the defense, a sore spot all season, kept an inept Las Vegas attack from having a season-best performance. Among the five teams listed here, the Cowboys have the easiest remaining strength of schedule, with more games against teams with losing records (three) than those in the playoff field (two). Their next three games — against the Philadelphia Eagles (8-2), Chiefs and Detroit Lions (6-4) — will inform how heavily Dallas factors into the playoff race through December. But for a team that seemingly had no hope following a Week 9 loss to the Cardinals, Dallas could be feistier down the stretch than most predicted. 3. Detroit Lions (6-4, eighth in NFC) Remaining opponents stats | Record: 37-32-2 (.521) • Currently in playoff field: 4 • Above .500: 4 Sunday's game against the New York Giants (2-9) is almost a must-win considering what lies ahead for Detroit. Over its final five games, it plays the Green Bay Packers (6-3-1), Los Angeles Rams (8-2), Pittsburgh Steelers (6-4) and Chicago Bears (7-3) plus the division-rival Minnesota Vikings (4-6). The Lions, who rank in the top five in total offense and defense, are more than capable of holding their own against stiff competition, although injures (particularly to the offensive line) have made them more vulnerable than the past two seasons, when they reached the NFC Championship Game (2023) and claimed the conference's No. 1 seed (2024). 2. Kansas City Chiefs (5-5, ninth in AFC) Remaining opponents stats | Record: 36-35-1 (.500) • Currently in playoff field: 3 • Above .500: 3 ESPN's Bill Barnwell recently laid out a convincing argument why this year's Chiefs squad isn't much different from last year's team that went 15-2. Other than a staggering regression in one-score games and special teams lapses, Kansas City is good enough to go on a run and crash the playoffs. The Chiefs' toughest remaining games (Colts, Chargers, Broncos) are at home. They also have a head-to-head with the Texans at Arrowhead. It's far too early to write Kansas City's obituary. The AFC West might be out of play, yet NFL Next Gen Stats still gives the Chiefs a 52 percent chance of making the playoffs. However, NFL.com's Ali Bhanpuri noted in a recently column that Kansas City's odds will drop to less than 33 percent with a loss this Sunday to Indianapolis. 1. Baltimore Ravens (5-5, 10th in AFC) Remaining opponents stats | Record: 35-35-1 (.493) • Currently in playoff field: 3 • Above .500: 4 The Ravens are just one game out of first in the AFC North and have the New York Jets (2-8) and Cincinnati Bengals (3-7) on the schedule before the first of two games with the division-leading Pittsburgh Steelers (6-4). By the end of the first weekend in December, Baltimore, which has won four in a row following a Week 7 bye, could easily be in pole position for a third straight AFC North title.
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