Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll has yet to return to the team since his leave of absence, and there have been fears that something big is brewing.
Joseph Woll was gearing up for a big season with the Toronto Maple Leafs, although things have not gone according to plan due to an unforeseen leave of absence.
Unfortunately, we currently do not have a timeline on when Woll will return from his absence. Instead, Anthony Stolarz will take the reins, while either Dennis Hildeby or James Reimer will be the backup.
For Kypreos, this is a process that could take about a month. This is mostly because Woll is going to need to take some time to ease himself into playing shape.
We all want to respect whatever is going on... when a guy has a leave of absence and needs to go home for whatever reason, or goes somewhere, it's not to come back in 3 or 4 days. I don't see him coming back for a month. Think about it.
Kypreos even compared Woll to Jeremy Swayman, who very infamously struggled at the start of last season after missing all of training camp.
When I say that, I'm talking about how long he'll be out of the lineup... If he's gone for two weeks, he'll need close to another two weeks to get ready. He's missed training camp. Go ask [Jeremy] Swayman in Boston what missing training camp does. Go ask these guys. It's a big deal for a goalie to miss training camp.
Overall, fans just want Woll to be okay, and they also want to make sure he is in a good headspace when he returns.
Having said that, speculation will only grow louder the longer this goes on.