Leafs could be forced to start amateur goalie tonight against Vasilevskiy
After goaltender Matt Murray suffered an injury and the Leafs signed college prospect Matthew Knies, Toronto is attempting to dance around the rules of the salary cap and roster limitations. With only one NHL goaltender on the roster and playing their second game in as many nights in Tampa, the Leafs have been forced to sign amateur goalies who are expected to start tonight.
With tonight being a back to back game and Ilya Samsonov starting last night, the Leafs need to avoid further injury to the goaltending position and can not afford to play Samsonov tonight. After the NHL denied multiple requests from the Leafs for an emergency recall of prospect Joseph Woll, the Leafs were forced to sign two amateur goalies this morning.
As morning skate began for the Leafs, reporters noticed the two mystery goalies and soon after were able to identify them. Matt Onuska of the Windsor Spitfires is expected to start tonight, with Samuel Richards of the University of New Brunswick expected to back up. On the other side of the ice, Tampa will start Andrei Vasilevskiy.
This situation should never arise in a professional league, and the NHL's refusal to allow Toronto an emergency call up has essentially forced the Leafs to throw a game tonight against Tampa Bay. Thankfully there are no playoff implications, otherwise, the NHL's incompetence might actually be rightfully scrutinized.
Update:
It now looks like Woll may be able to start tonight after all as he has been added to their roster
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 11 | 201 ANSWERS Leafs could be forced to start amateur goalie tonight against Vasilevskiy Do you like the salary cap? | ||
| Yes | 72 | 35.8 % |
| No | 80 | 39.8 % |
| The Leafs did this to themselves | 49 | 24.4 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Mikko Rantanen | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jake Debrusk | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Dylan Guenther | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Connor McDavid | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Jack Eichel | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Brock Nelson | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Valeri Nichushkin | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Clayton Keller | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Anthony Cirelli | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Jonathan Drouin | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Roman Josi | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Kirill Marchenko | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Kyle Palmieri | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Sebastian Aho | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Evan Bouchard | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Rasmus Dahlin | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Leon Draisaitl | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Matt Duchene | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Samuel Girard | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 20 | 17 | 3 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||