Maple Leafs make emergency recall ahead of season opener in Montreal

Earlier on Wednesday, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube announced that goalie Anthony Stolarz was getting the start in the team’s season opener against the Canadiens in Montreal later today.

It was revealed that netminder Joseph Woll, who was expected to be the Leafs’ starting goalie, has been dealing with a lower-body injury.

“It’s precautionary,” the coach simply said.

Due to the update on Woll and the fact that Stolarz is the one starting the game in Montreal, the Maple Leafs made an emergency call up on Wednesday, getting goalie Dennis Hildeby up from the Toronto Marlies.

The young netminder was called up a couple times by the Leafs during the 2023-24 campaign, but has yet to make his NHL debut. He did however stopped 36 of 38 shots in a pair of pre-season contests during camp.

“He had a good camp,” said Berube. “He’s young, but he looks very comfortable in net. Calm and cool. Obviously size (6-foot-7), he’s a big goalie and takes up a lot of the net.”

As for Stolarz, who signed a two-year deal with the Leafs in the summer, he did very well in the preseason, posting a .964 save percentage in three games, which included a shutout in his last contest.

Woll, who was excited about possibly getting the opening night start and playing in the Bell Centre for the first time, experienced some discomfort last week in practice, but nothing more was said about it then. He hasn’t officially been ruled out of Thursday’s game in New Jersey.

“We’ll see tomorrow,” Berube said.