Maple Leafs activate Joseph Woll from injured reserve, will make season debut on Thursday against Blues

The Toronto Maple Leafs are getting one of their top goaltenders back.

On Thursday, the team announced that they have activated goaltender Joseph Woll from injured reserve. In response, the Leafs sent Dennis Hildeby down to their American Hockey League affiliate, the Toronto Marlies.

Woll hasn’t played a game yet this season, as the 26-year-old was ruled out of Toronto’s season opener against the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 9. He was later placed on IR with a lower-body injury.

When speaking to the media, head coach Craig Berube said that Woll will make his season debut on Thursday night against the St. Louis Blues, Berube’s former team.

The injury was part of a concerning trend for the former Boston College netminder. After stealing the starting job from Matt Murray early in 2022-23, Woll suffered a high-ankle sprain that kept him out for almost two months. Woll was later called into duty to help the Leafs stave off elimination in their first-round series against the Boston Bruins. After two great performances, he was removed from the lineup just hours before Game 7 due to an undisclosed injury. 

Yet, the Leafs have faith that Woll is their No. 1 netminder, hence why they signed him to a three-year contract extension, carrying a $3.67 million AAV, which is set to kick in next season. He is in the final year of a three-year deal with a $766,667 cap hit.

Hildeby made his NHL debut with the Leafs on Oct. 10 against the New Jersey Devils, stopping 21 of the 23 shots he faced in a 4-2 win. His second start didn’t go so well. On the second half of a back-to-back this past Tuesday against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Hildeby allowed six goals on 38 shots.

The 6-foot-7 netminder made an impression in his first year with the Marlies last season. In 41 appearances, Hildeby went 21-11-7 with a 2.41 goals-against average, a .913 save percentage and four shutouts.