A positive update on Joseph Woll ahead of tonight's game against the Blues

UPDATE 2: It's official. The Leafs have recalled Woll from injury reserve and have assigned Dennis Hildeby to the AHL's Toronto Marlies.

Read below for our earlier reports on Woll and the Leafs' goaltending situation.

UPDATE: According to a report from TSN insider Darren Dreger, there's a "decent chance" that Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll will make his return to the lineup tonight against the St. Louis Blues.

From Dreger:

Woll has been sidelined with a lower body injury for awhile, but is reportedly now ready to return to action. 

Read below for our earlier report on Woll's status, published by Hockey Feed staff reporter Jonathan Larrivee earlier this week.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have thus far played the entire regular season without the goaltender that was expected to serve as their number one goalie this season, Joseph Woll. Woll has been sidelined by a lower body injury for weeks now and that has been a significant cause for concern given the fact that one of the biggest knocks against Woll has been his inability to remain healthy throughout his career in the National Hockey League.

On Monday, Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube provided the first bit of good news regarding Woll's status that I've heard all season, indicating for the first time that Woll may be ready to play very soon. Berube was asked about Woll's availability for Tuesday's game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, the second game of a back to back for the Maple Leafs, and he indicated that it was possible Woll would play his first game of the season.

To be clear this was not a firm commitment on the part of Berube, but he did not rule it out.

"Possibly, yes," said Berube when asked about Woll playing on Tuesday.

With Woll sidelined due to injury the Maple Leafs have been forced to rely heavily on goaltender Anthony Stolarz, whom Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving signed to a 2 year deal with an average annual value and cap hit of $2.5 million per season this summer, and he has risen to the challenge. Stolarz has recorded a 1.79 goals against average and a .937 save percentage over 4 appearances this season thus far and he is expected to make his 5th appearance for the Maple Leafs this season when they take on the Tampa Bay Lightning later tonight.

The decision to sign Stolarz has paid off huge for the Maple Leafs early on, so well in fact that you do have to wonder how the Maple Leafs will handle goaltending assignments when Woll does in fact make his return.