Should you start a Maple Leafs goalie in your NHL fantasy team? Joseph Woll's injury poses interesting options

By Ryan Gagne

Modified Dec 09, 2023 22:12 GMT

Realistically, NHL fantasy lineups are loaded with Toronto Maple Leafs players, including their netminders Joseph Woll and Ilya Samsonov.

However, heading into Saturday's game against the Nashville Predators, the Maple Leafs sit in fourth place in the Atlantic Division with 30 points, good enough for the top wildcard spot in the NHL playoff race.

Despite playing 23 games, the Original Six franchise is testing everyone's patience with 11 extra time contests, where they collected six wins, two overtime losses and a shootout loss.

Considering their main netminders, Samsonov (67%) and Woll (69%), are highly rostered, there are now some concerns about the future of the Maple Leafs' goaltending because of injuries.

Although the duo has almost split the duties down the middle, Woll has skated in 15 games, earning 13 starts, producing an 8-5-1 record with an impressive 2.80 goals-against average and .916 save percentage.

Interestingly, at just 25 and getting his first real shot at playing in the NHL, he's outplaying Samsonov, whose production has taken a significant dip since last season's heroics.

After posting a career-best 27-10-5 record with a 2.33 GAA and .919 SV%, Samsonov is having a terrible start to the season with a 4-1-3 record, 3.58 GAA and .878 SV%. Surprisingly, these are not the numbers the Maple Leafs hoped for when they provided him with a one-year contract through arbitration in the offseason.

Ultimately, Woll was recently in the conversation as a candidate for the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year, which made him a gem in fantasy hockey. Whether managers employed him for his decent win, GAA or SV% numbers, it made sense to dress him over Samsonov.

Ilya Samsonov, Toronto Maple Leafs

However, employing goalies in NHL fantasy is a difficult job that involves endless research, observations and game-time decisions. Outside of the Vezina Trophy caliber netminders who are mainstays in the lineup, Woll and Samsonov are everyday netminders who have to earn fantasy employability day by day.

Now Woll is out of the equation since he suffered a lower-body injury on Thursday and will miss significant time. Considering how sloppy Samsonov has been, the Maple Leafs have recalled Martin Jones to the NHL.

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Martin Jones Suddenly Becomes Vital Addition to NHL Fantasy

Recently, Jones played with the Seattle Kraken, where he kept the team in contention for the Pacific Division title, compiling a 27-13-3 record with a 2.99 GAA and .886 SV%. Although those save percentage numbers would scare most NHL fantasy managers away, he did win 27 games and only gave up 133 goals with three shutouts.

Surprisingly, Jones has only skated once in 2023-24, picking a win in 10 minutes of relief. Even though his current stat line is a nightmare at 6.23 GAA and .900 SV%, he's been a winner in San Jose and Seattle, and given the talent in front of him in Toronto, he should help offset Woll's absence.

Ultimately, once Woll's injury news went public, Jones has been one of the most picked-up goalies in Yahoo NHL fantasy hockey with over 6,000 adds. Now, he's not going to save anyone's season, but Jones will be a great spot-starter until Samsonov rediscovers the magic from last season.

Either way, there are no more guarantees regarding the future of the Maple Leafs netminders in NHL fantasy with Woll on the shelf. But, as mentioned, Toronto can outscore anyone in the league; it just needs its netminders to stop the puck and improve over their collective .903 SV% as a unit.