Insider shares substantial update on injured Leafs netminder Joseph Woll
The Toronto Maple Leafs received a nice surprise on Sunday night against the Seattle Kraken as goaltender Ilya Samsonov once again looked like last season's version of himself.
Since December 8th, when Joseph Woll went down with an ankle injury in the third period of their game against the Ottawa Senators, the Leafs' goaltending has had plenty of ups and downs. 3rd stringer Martin Jones has started far more than I'm sure anyone foresaw, but with fatigue kicking in for him, it might be time for Samsonov to get a bit of a run until Woll is back.
The Leafs never gave a specific timeline for Woll's return, but many based it off of Timothy Liljegren's earlier recovery of the same high-ankle sprain. Liljegren was out of action for six weeks before returning, but given that the movement and use of the ankle is vastly different for a goalie and defenseman, it was not going to come as a surprise if Woll was out longer. On Tuesday morning's edition of TSN 1050's "First Up", Chris Johnston provided a more definitive timeline for Woll's return.
All along, the Leafs sort of were saying it would probably be after the All-Star break. I think that's pretty evident now that we're this close, with just two games left until the Leafs have their bye week and All-Star break. I would think somewhere on the other end of that in early February, we'll be getting closer and closer to where Joseph Woll is really ramping it up and we'll get a clear sense of when he might be ready to play again."
With the Leafs coming up on their bye week and the All-Star Game, as Johnston mentioned, it will give Woll almost two full weeks to ramp up his skating and treatment. Add in a few full practices following the break and Woll should be returning almost exactly two months to the day after his injury. In 15 games with the Leafs this season, Woll is 8-5-1 with a 2.80G AA and .916 save percentage. He'll look to build on those numbers upon his return.
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 24 | 399 ANSWERS Insider shares substantial update on injured Leafs netminder Joseph Woll What will Joseph Woll's first start back will be? | ||
| Feb 6 vs Islanders | 100 | 25.1 % |
| Feb 8 vs Dallas | 87 | 21.8 % |
| Feb 11 vs Ottawa | 212 | 53.1 % |
| Later | 0 | 0 % |
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