TORONTO — Craig Berube and the Maple Leafs recognized they had a problem.
“It is a challenge,” the Leafs’ head coach said of his backup goalie, Dennis Hildeby, after the game on Wednesday. The second-year North American pro had just allowed four goals on 18 shots against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
With Anthony Stolarz out following a knee procedure and his return not imminent, the Leafs turned to one of their more promising goalie prospects. Yet it was Hildeby’s second NHL loss in a row. The 23-year-old allowed two goals on 18 shots in his previous game, 11 days earlier.
After a stellar AHL rookie campaign in 2023-24, Hildeby has played six NHL games this season, with an .878 save percentage.
Joseph Woll is proving capable of being an NHL starter. With the continued demands to win games and stay atop the Atlantic Division, Berube and the Leafs had been turning to Hildeby without regularity. It all proved to be a damaging situation for the 2022 fourth-round draft pick.
“Listen, he is developing up here, getting practice time and working with NHL shooters and our goalie coach,” Berube said. “But I get what you’re saying. (In an) ideal situation, he is playing more games down in the minors. But that is not the situation right now.”
The Leafs had to change their situation.
Not only did they do that, they made an effective change by bringing Matt Murray back to the NHL and assigning Hildeby to the AHL. Murray likely will back up Woll in the Leafs’ next game on Saturday night against the Ottawa Senators.
For Murray, it’s a deserved return to the NHL.
Bilateral hip surgery forced Murray, now 30, out of the entire 2023-24 season. That was the final year of his four-year deal. Murray had an injury-checkered past and there was no guarantee he would would play in the NHL again. A one-year contract offered him a lifeline to start in the AHL and work his way back.
For Murray, self-doubt about whether he would ever return to the NHL likely lingered. That was evident in his up-and-down start to the Marlies’ season. He allowed three goals in three of his first four AHL starts before settling down. Around the Marlies, people noticed a change in his mentality and approach after a Dec. 14 game against the Bakersfield Condors. After Artur Akhtyamov allowed five goals in the first 22 minutes, 24 seconds, of the game, Murray came on in relief.
Murray stopped all 13 shots he faced and the Marlies came back to win 6-5 in overtime. That appearance seemed to provide Murray with justifiable confidence. He was called up on Dec. 20 and won his first NHL game since March 23, 2023. There was rust in his game at the NHL level, sure. But that’s to be expected.
Murray has looked and played like a different goalie in the AHL after being recalled for two games in December. What likely mattered is that he proved he could return.
Once he was able to prove that he had an NHL return in him, it felt as though Murray cleared a hurdle. As of late, he’s looked free of the mental burden that came with his future being in question. His movement between the posts with the Marlies has been more precise and he has attacked shots in a more pronounced way.
The switch he’s flipped has been evident in his numbers. Murray’s save percentage is up to .934 over 15 games this season. That’s second in the AHL.
Coupled with the fact that upstart Marlies rookie Akhtyamov has been out with injury since leaving a Jan. 8 game, Murray has gotten plenty of reps. Those reps have been, not coincidentally, what Hildeby has lacked.
Murray’s last three starts came within six days. He recorded two shutouts and allowed only one goal in the other game. Getting in a groove mattered to his game.
And if the Leafs can capitalize on that momentum and the evident joy Murray has found in his game, they’ll be in a better spot to provide Woll some rest here and there before the 4 Nations Face-Off.
It will be worth watching how much Murray plays during the Leafs’ upcoming western Canada road trip beginning Feb. 1. While there are no back-to-backs, the Leafs have four games in eight days. And the organization seems intent on finding pockets of rest for Woll. They’ve backed off on how much Woll is practicing lately to keep his body rested and sharp. Berube has acknowledged that Woll has played multiple “emotional” games lately. While Woll is answering questions about how well he can handle the starter’s job with Stolarz out, the Leafs still must look beyond the regular season. Woll feels more and more like the Leafs’ playoff starter. Playing decisive hockey in the spring is going to be what matters for him and the organization.
What the Leafs need behind Woll right now is stability. And they weren’t getting that from Hildeby.
What’s crucial to note is that the version of Hildeby the Leafs saw this season might not represent the full picture of the goalie. With his 6-foot-7 frame and athleticism, Hildeby offers incredible promise. But he’s still so early in his development. Hildeby’s NHL experience is evidence of how big the jump is from the AHL to the NHL, and the mental hurdles that come with that jump.
“It’s a different type of pressure, I think,” Woll said Thursday of the jump from the AHL to the NHL, a jump he knows well. Woll spent parts of four seasons with the Marlies before becoming an NHL starter. “When you work building your game, getting comfortable in the (AHL) and you move up to the NHL, it’s a different animal.”
The Leafs were asking Hildeby to play infrequently. They saw how challenging that can be for a young goalie.
“He’s a special goalie. I see him in practice every day and he doesn’t let in a shot,” Woll said of Hildeby. “He has the talent and the mental capacity for (the NHL). But sometimes the results don’t go the way you want.”
Because of his tools, Hildeby likely has an NHL future in some form. But with both an uneven schedule and potentially too many NHL games early in his professional career, the Leafs might have risked of crushing his confidence for good.
“When you’re playing a lot, it’s tough in terms of, you have to be always on and always ready,” Woll said. “And then when you’re not playing a lot, it’s because you don’t really get in a rhythm. So that’s hard to do, to come in and having not played for a week or two and (being) expected to perform, especially in games where you don’t get a lot of action. It’s hard to get into the game. So whatever situation you’re in, it’s always difficult. And I think that’s what you learn to kind of embrace with this job.”
Woll didn’t play any NHL games during his first two seasons of professional hockey. And it’s important to remember just how poor his numbers were early on. His .880 save percentage in his rookie AHL season cast doubt over whether he could eventually play in the NHL.
But the Leafs were slow and patient with his development. And they’re reaping the rewards now.
Many goalies simply have a longer development road than the skaters in front of them. By sending Hildeby back to the AHL for more reps at that level, they’re probably hoping he builds his confidence back up. It could prove to be an effective move for Hildeby’s long-term development.
This season, the Leafs have gotten the kind of strong goaltending they’ve long lacked. Their .909 team save percentage is tied for sixth in the NHL. Last season, they put up an .898 save percentage. Some of that number is bolstered by the changes they’ve made on the blue line. But there is an air of dependability around the team, in part thanks to their improved goaltending.
Murray has played more regularly lately and is in such a different place, experience-wise, than Hildeby.
By not forcing Hildeby into any more games and turning to a reliable face between the pipes, it feels like the Leafs have a better chance of continuing that dependability and maintaining their lead in the Atlantic Division.
(Photo of Dennis Hildeby: Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)
