Toronto Maple Leafs trade goaltender Joseph Woll

That performance gave Toronto the confidence to invest in Woll as the team’s backup netminder behind the newly acquired Anthony Stolarz. The Maple Leafs signed Woll to a three-year, $11M extension. The first season of that deal went as well as anyone could have hoped, with Woll finishing with a 27-14-1 record in 42 games with a .909 SV%, 2.73 GAA, and 10.8 GSAA.

Although he didn’t start the postseason as Toronto’s starter, that’s how things ended. Unfortunately, it didn’t go well, as the Maple Leafs were eliminated by the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Florida Panthers, in seven games. Woll finished the postseason with a .886 SV%.

This past season, Woll and the Maple Leafs, in general, hit a new low. Limited by injuries, Woll finished the 2025-26 campaign with a 15-16-7 record with a .898 SV% and 3.34 GAA. He remains signed through the 2027-28 season with a $3.66M cap hit. He’ll presumably begin the 2026-27 season as the backup behind Daniel Vladař, who is expected to sign a five-year extension with the Flyers once he’s eligible on July 1st.

The other player going to Philadelphia in the deal is Benoit. Best used as a seventh defenseman, Benoit played in 215 games for the Maple Leafs throughout the past three years, scoring two goals and 21 points with a -3 rating, averaging 17:00 of ice time per game.

Much of Benoit’s future will be determined by how the Flyers operate this offseason. If the team moves on from the last year of Rasmus Ristolainen‘s contract, Benoit could find himself enjoying relatively consistent ice time. However, if Philadelphia makes other additions, there’s a chance he spends most of next season with the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms. To be blunt, his possession metrics were a disaster, finishing with a 39.6% CF at even strength last season. This percentage would have ranked dead last among qualified candidates on the Flyers this past season.

Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs have acquired Ersson for a change of scenery. However, as a restricted free agent, there’s no guarantee that Toronto will even issue Ersson a qualifying offer. The Maple Leafs already have Stolarz and Dennis Hildeby signed through next season, with youngster Artur Akhtyamov pushing the envelope in the AHL.

Still, it became apparent this past season that Ersson’s time with the Flyers was ending. Throughout the past two years, the 26-year-old netminder managed a 36-28-10 record in 80 games with a .878 SV%, 3.13 GAA, and -38.9 GSAA. He doesn’t have much earning power at the moment, but Ersson could land with a goalie-needy team as an unrestricted free agent to serve as a third-string option and rebuild his career.

Additionally, the Maple Leafs have also acquired Andrae, who is an immediate upgrade over Benoit. Because he was on the fringe with the Flyers, the organization became open to trading Andrae back in October, but didn’t pull the trigger on a deal until Tuesday.

He played relatively well for the Flyers this season, scoring two goals and 13 points in 61 games with a +15 rating. Given that he can play on both sides of the blue line, Andrae should find more consistent ice time with Toronto next season on the team’s bottom pairing.

Lastly, the Flyers also threw in a third-round pick in the upcoming draft to complete the deal. That pick will be used to make the 85th overall selection, giving Toronto eight picks in the upcoming draft, dropping the Flyers to four.