It’s been a conversation piece for some time, at least in some circles when it comes to the Toronto Maple Leafs — their lack of development at the goaltending position within the organization.
Sure, the conversation consists of guys like James Reimer and now Joseph Woll, and with no disrespect to either of those players they either weren’t legitimate starters or haven’t projected to be one at this point in their careers.
What the Maple Leafs have done is survived off other team’s draft picks and used fill-ins for the position for a number of years — a position that has plagued the organization when it came to consistency on a year-to-year basis.
That said, with word out of the team’s development camp that two of their goaltending prospects are looking good, the team could be looking at potential fits for their net in the years to come.
A Decade and More of Maple Leafs’ Goalie Picks
Since 2006, the Maple Leafs have drafted 10 goaltenders. Of those picks, four of them ended up playing at least one game with the Maple Leafs, while four are prospects within the organization.
The four that suited up for the team are James Reimer (drafted in 2006), Garret Sparks (drafted in 2011), Antoine Bibeau (drafted in 2013) and Joseph Woll (drafted in 2016). The four still within the organization are Woll, Artur Akhtyamov, Vyacheslav Peksa and Dennis Hildeby — two of which were drawing the attention of Maple Leafs’ brass at development camp.
As for the others, here’s how they breakdown. Reimer played 207 games for the Maple Leafs from 2010 to 2016. He put up some solid numbers with a 85-76-23 record, a .914 save percentage (SV%) and 2.83 goals against average (GAA) over that span. Since then he’s played for three other teams and he remains a part of one of the most historic playoff collapses in Maple Leafs’ history.
In 2008, the team drafted Grant Rollheiser from Trail Smoke Eaters of the BCHL. He was taken in the sixth round, 158th overall and never played a game in the NHL.
In 2011, they picked Sparks 190th overall in the seventh round of the draft. He played 37 of his 40 NHL games with the Maple Leafs from 2015 to 2019 posting a 14-18-2 record. He had a subpar .898 SV% and 3.09 GAA before moving on the Vegas in 2019.
Bibeau was taken in the sixth round, 172nd overall in 2013. He played two games for the Maple Leafs in 2016-17. He split the games 1-1 and had a .927 SV% and 1.99 GAA, but ended up in Colorado by the 2019-20 season.
As for Woll, he’s projecting to possibly be the team’s back-up next season assuming they can get Ilya Samsonov signed and Matt Murray’s contract moved out. And the remaining three — Akhtyamov, Peksa and Hildeby are all waiting in the winds playing overseas for the time being.
While they pose a possible change in goaltending direction for the franchise, historically, they’ve leaned on others for their options in net.
Maple Leafs Leaned on Others For Goaltending Options
In 2006, the Maple Leafs were led by Andrew Raycroft and Jean-Sébasiten Aubin. Maple Leafs’ pick Mikael Tellqvist suited up for just one game while the others made up for 82 total games. Raycroft was a pick of the Boston Bruins, while Aubin came up through the Pittsburgh Penguins organization.
In 2007, it was Raycroft, along with Vesa Toskala (SJS ’95) and Scott Clemmensen (NJ ’97) and in 2008 it was Toskala, Martin Gerber (ANA ’01), Curtis Joseph (signed by STL) and Maple Leafs’ Justin Pogge, who played just seven games that season.
Beyond that, you get the picture. From 2006 to this past season, the Maple Leafs have seen goaltenders that were brought into the NHL by other teams play for 75 percent of their games. That’s a pretty high number when you consider it’s over 1,300 games over that span.
Of their picks, Reimer was their most reliable selection playing over 200 games as we mentioned earlier. It’s safe to say the team suffered in scouting goaltenders over the years.
So why are we so high on the future with all three of the options playing overseas?
Akhtyamov, Peksa Might Be Getting Proper Development
Peksa was drafted in the sixth round, 185th overall in 2021 by the Maple Leafs. That season, he posted a 30-17-8 record in 56 games for Irbis Kazan in the MHL with a 1.79 GAA and .936 SV%. For those asking, the MHL is the men’s junior league in Russia.
In 2022-23, however, Peksa jumped in the VHL, the men’s second-highest league in Russia and finished the year with a 13-19-6 record in 40 games with Bars Kazan. While he had a losing record, his numbers were still impressive — with a .921 SV% and 2.34 GAA. As for this season, surely the hope is he’ll take another jump into a KHL spot, or improve on his VHL numbers from last season, but his play at development camp surely impressed.
As for Akhtyamov, he was drafted 106th overall in the fourth round in 2020. Since then, he has also be making strides in Russia. Last season, he played the full year with Neftyanik Almetievsk of the VHL where he had incredible numbers in both the regular season and playoffs.
In the regular season he finished with a 20-12-6 record to go along with a 1.74 GAA and .943 SV%. He then went on to post a 1.53 GAA and .952 SV% in six playoff games. He too will be expected to take a jump in development this season as his number suggest he’s ready for the next level.
As for what the organization thinks about their goaltending prospects — specifically the two Russians — they see them as viable options moving forward.
Related: Maple Leafs’ Prospect Easton Cowan Brings More Than His Stature
“Our goaltender depth seems to be coming. Within the pool that we have, we have a couple of players that are starting to push for that next level,” said assistant general manager Hayley Wickenheiser following development camp. “Really impressed throughout the week with their foundational skill set. The feedback from our goalie coach Jon Elkin is that everyone is really impressed. Akhtyamov has certainly separated himself, and Peksa is right there as well.”
As for the plan for the two goaltending prospects, the Maple Leafs will have them both back over in Russia for the 2023-24 season with the hope that they will get playing time and continue their overall development before they decide to bring either one of them over for the next step in their respective careers.
