Martin Biron shares honest take on Leafs goaltending situation
The former goalie-turned-analyst shares his thoughts.
HockeyFeed
The Toronto Maple Leafs will be rolling with goaltender Ilya Samsonov once again for the 2023-24 NHL season after he was awarded a one-year contract in arbitration. And while they put Matt Murray on LTIR (despite his having been healthy enough to play in the postseason this spring), they brought in veteran Martin Jones on a one-year deal of his own to serve as backup.
This means that Joseph Woll, who spelled Samsonov in the postseason after he went down with injury, will get more time to season with the AHL's Toronto Marlies.
And speaking of goaltenders, former NHL goalie and current analyst Martin Biron shared the following sentiments on Toronto's situation between the pipes:
"Samsonov played really well last year if he is healthy and plays 55-60 games great," he said during an appearance on TSN's Overdrive. "I really like Joseph Woll I think he did really good last year. But I wanna see can he take a step forward. Can he play 30 games? If Samsonov is hurt can't you trust Woll to play 5/6 games in a row," said Biron. "That's still not confirmed and still not something you can trust but he has all the talent. So, if Samsonov holds up like he did last year and being healthy I think the Leafs should be fine in that department. It's just a matter of putting it all together," Biron continued, believing that the Leafs' goaltending is as good as last season. He then commented on the addition of Jones and what to expect from him."
"I'm a fan of Martin Jones. In this day and age goaltenders have to be limber, flexible and have to be able to move. I feel like Jones is very stiff. When he was at his best with San Jose he reminded me of Connor Hellebuyck. It was all about positioning and letting the puck hit you but I feel like he lost that his reaction time and movement time is not what it once was but he has the experience and if Woll can't give you good enough backup roll type goaltending I know Jones will do it. Hell play a game every 10 days and at least he'll give you backup style goaltending. But the Leafs want more than that. They want someone that can compete with Samsonov. I don't think Jones can compete with Samsonov but I think Will could push it."
How will the Leafs goaltending fare in this upcoming season, and can they stay healthy?
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