Goaltending is arguably the most important position in hockey, and every successful team likely has a goaltender or two who performs well.
For the Toronto Maple Leafs, they’ve made some changes in the crease this off-season, across a few different transactions by GM John Chayka.
Advertisement
It’s not just the NHL tandem that has seen a shift going into the 2026-27 season, but the team’s goaltending youth and depth have seen some change as well. After these adjustments in Chayka’s first summer as the Leafs’ GM, where does Toronto’s goalie blueprint stand against the others in the Atlantic Division?
Off-Season Subtractions And Additions
With Chayka’s first trade as the GM of the Maple Leafs, he made a deal with the Philadelphia Flyers. That trade saw defenseman Simon Benoit and goaltender Joseph Woll sent away in exchange for goaltender Samuel Ersson, defenseman Emil Andrae and a 2026 third-round pick.
They did get Ersson in return to fill the void of Woll, but Ersson hasn’t performed well in the NHL so far, posting an .870 save percentage and a 3.12 goals-against average this past year. In the end, Ersson was traded to the Ottawa Senators for a fifth-round pick in the 2027 draft.
Advertisement
On free agency day, Chayka filled Woll’s hole in the roster and acquired Sergei Bobrovsky, signing him to a three-year contract at $7 million per season. Now, the Maple Leafs’ goaltending tandem is made up of Bobrovsky and Anthony Stolarz, two netminders who won a Stanley Cup together with the Florida Panthers in 2023-24.
Where Does The Maple Leafs’ Forward Group Rank In The Atlantic Division?
Toronto wasn’t done making moves in the crease there, as later that day, the Leafs traded Dennis Hildeby to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Advertisement
Hildeby, 24, was showing great promise with the Maple Leafs and with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. In 20 NHL appearances, the Swede registered a 2.86 GAA, a .914 SP, and earned his first career shutout against the Lightning in December of the past season.
Moving the young 6-foot-7 goaltender was a sacrifice to continue to improve the team’s forward group, as they acquired Nick Paul from Tampa in that trade.
So now, Toronto will be rolling with Bobrovsky, Stolarz, and Artur Akhtyamov as the team’s third goalie, who has been a star in the AHL, coming off an MVP-winning Calder Cup championship.
Why The Maple Leafs’ AHLers Will Have A Hard Time Getting A Deserved Opportunity In The NHL Next Season
Advertisement
Where Do The Leafs Rank In Division?
There are some superstar goaltenders in the Atlantic Division that the Leafs will need to face. Andrei Vasilevskiy and Jeremy Swayman of the Lightning and Boston Bruins, respectively, were finalists for the Vezina Trophy this past season, with the Bolts netminder taking home the trophy.
Nonetheless, Toronto’s tandem isn’t anything to be dismissive of, with a total of three Stanley Cups between Bobrovsky and Stolarz. Not to mention, Bobrovsky has two Vezina Trophies himself, and while Stolarz has an injury-plagued history, he’s also shown signs of being an excellent goaltender, with the 2024-25 campaign being a prime example of that.
How Could The Maple Leafs Utilize Their New Goaltending Tandem Next Season?
Advertisement
A few teams that the Leafs certainly have the goaltending edge over are the Senators, the Detroit Red Wings and the Buffalo Sabres.
The Senators do have a Vezina-Trophy-winning netminder in Linus Ullmark, but since he won that award in Boston, he hasn’t been the same since arriving in Ottawa.
This past year was Ullmark’s worst campaign yet of his NHL career. He recorded a 2.73 GAA and an .891 SP.
To Ullmark’s credit, he had an excellent post-season in Ottawa’s first-round matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes, putting up a .932 SP and a 2.03 GAA. However, he wasn’t able to earn a victory.
Advertisement
Now, going into the new campaign, his supporting tandem member is going to be Ersson, or Leevi Merilainen, who also struggled in 2025-26 with a .860 SP and a 3.51 GAA in 20 games.
Detroit will be rolling with John Gibson and Daniil Tarasov next season.
Gibson was a star goaltender earlier in his career, but lately he’s fallen into the category of an average starter.
He’s still a solid netminder, but isn’t so much a game-changer for his team, putting up a .901 SP this past year. The Red Wings also show no signs of improving the roster, particularly the back end to support their goaltenders.
Advertisement
Tarasov spent the past year as a backup to Bobrovsky with the Panthers, earning an .895 SP. It’s hard to see this tandem thrive in this division and with the roster in front of them.
For Buffalo, their goaltending has been slightly chaotic to a certain degree lately. The big name in the Sabres’ crease is 27-year-old Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who was great in the regular season with a .910 SP. However, that was only across 35 appearances.
Then, there’s Alex Lyon, who played 36 games and recorded a .907 SP. And to finish the trio, Colten Ellis, who debuted in the NHL this past year, put up a .903 SP in his first 16 appearances of his NHL career.
A three-goalie tandem isn’t typically the greatest method, nor do any of these three names scare an opponent on the scouting report.
Advertisement
Luukkonen is the best goaltender on Buffalo’s list, given the fact that he has posted a pair of campaigns with a .910 SP. But he does lack the consistency of being a true star or elite No. 1 goaltender.
Where Does The Maple Leafs’ Defense Rank In The Atlantic Division?
Moving on to the other clubs in the Atlantic, Toronto has a case to make against any goalie tandem in the division.
The next team that the Maple Leafs could hang around with in the crease is the Montreal Canadiens and their duo of Jakub Dobes and Jacob Fowler. Although Samuel Montembeault is on the roster, he sits behind the other two goalies on the depth chart and wasn’t particularly impressive in 2025-26.
Advertisement
There’s no doubt that Dobes had some heroic and unforgettable moments for the Habs in their most recent playoff run. But the truth is, the Czech goaltender isn’t all that consistent between the pipes.
Even with him being the highlight for multiple Montreal victories in the 2026 post-season, he posted a .908 SP, with half of his appearances in the playoffs finishing under a .900 SP.
Not much can be said about Fowler, as he made his NHL debut just this past year. He performed well, posting a .908 SP in 17 NHL contests, but that’s not enough to change the overall perspective on where the Canadiens’ tandem stands in the Atlantic.
With the experience and proven numbers from recent seasons, Toronto’s netminders can be trusted more going into 2026-27.
NHL Reveals Maple Leafs’ Season Opener For 2026-27 Season
Advertisement
It’s hard to compete with the Panthers in any category, but when it comes to their new-look tandem, the Maple Leafs could have the edge over them, too.
They lost Bobrovsky and replaced him with Jacob Markstrom in a trade with the New Jersey Devils. Lately, Markstrom hasn’t been great as a starting goaltender, with his past four seasons finishing with a .905 SP or worse.
Indeed, Bobrovsky is at an age where a dip in performance would be expected, and that happened in 2025-26, but replacing him with Markstrom doesn’t guarantee improvement in goal.
Next to Markstrom will be Akira Schmid as the backup goaltender, and he is exactly that and nothing more. Schmid played 34 games for the Vegas Golden Knights this past year and posted an .893 SP. The 26-year-old also has just 82 games played in his NHL career.
Advertisement
It doesn’t take much of an argument to understand that the Leafs should have the edge over the Cats when it comes to goaltending.
For the final two teams remaining, Boston and Tampa Bay, it’s tough to say Toronto has better goaltending than they do, simply because of the No. 1s they both possess. Swayman and Vasilevskiy are two of the best goalies in the NHL.
But where the Maple Leafs can make an argument is about the depth they have in the crease between those two franchises.
Could Bruins Assistant GM Evan Gold Be Joining The Maple Leafs’ Front Office?
Advertisement
With the Bruins, behind Swayman is Michael DiPietro, with Joonas Korpisalo being shipped to the New York Rangers this summer.
It’s been a long time coming for DiPietro, as a 27-year-old, and he is finally projected to have a regular NHL role next season. In four separate campaigns, he’s made a total of four appearances, and only in two did he feature for the whole contest.
He’s spent most of his time in the AHL, and to his credit, he has dominated at that level. This past year, he recorded a .930 SP and a 1.91 GAA in 45 contests. So his jump to the NHL is deserved, but there isn’t much sample size to base how he’ll perform at this next level.
Similar can be said about Tampa and Hildeby. Though Hildeby has stepped up for Toronto in the NHL before, he’s in a different and unfamiliar environment, with just 26 games played at this level.
Advertisement
So while the Leafs don’t have a Swayman or Vasilevskiy, at least, going off of how the past season went, the depth is what really gives them a boost among their divisional peers.
See more of The Hockey News on Google — Save us as Preferred Source
Image
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
