Maple Leafs To Pursue $1.75 Million Highly Rated Goalie In Free Agency

Maple Leafs To Pursue $1.75 Million Highly Rated Goalie In Free Agency

Toronto Maple Leafs tied to Laurent Brossoit.

The Toronto Maple Leafs will be in the market for a new goalie in free agency and insider James Mirtle of The Athletic has linked them to Winnipeg Jets netminder Laurent Brossoit.

Brossoit finished completed his one-year $1.75 million deal with the Jets as the team’s backup goalkeeper to Connor Hellebuyck. Heading into free agency, Mirtle says Brossoit is one among the Leafs’ top choices to sign to create a tandem with Joseph Woll.

“I think they are going to get a tandem goaltender as opposed to a big name. Someone like Laurent Brossoit, who was the backup in Winnipeg this year, will be a target for the Leafs,” Mirtle said on The Leaf Report.

Laurent Brossoit

Brossoit went 15-5-2 with Winnipeg last season with a 2.00 goals-against average and a .927 SV%. The 31-year-old signed with the Jets after spending the last two years with the Vegas Golden Knights where he won the Stanley Cup in 2023.

The Maple Leafs have Woll under contract for next season, but Ilya Samsonov and Martin Jones are pending free agents.

Maple Leafs GM Has Questions Surrounding Woll

Woll had taken over from Samsonov as Toronto’s starting goalie at the end of the year and in the playoffs. However, toward the end of Game 6, Woll sustained a back injury, as staying fit has been an issue for him.

With Woll getting hurt again, Maple Leafs general manager Brad Trelviing says that the main worry for the goalkeeper position this summer is keeping Woll healthy.

“As far as our goaltending, I’ve got faith in Joe. Now, like anyone else, there are questions. The greatest question with Joe is he’s gotten injured a lot. We have to dig into that. Sometimes that happens, sometimes terrible luck happens. Is there a training issue that we have to deal with? Do we need to adjust something in his off-ice routine? All those things are what we have to dive into,” Treliving said at the year-end press conference.

Woll has one year left on his agreement that pays him $766,667 for the 2024-25 NHL season. Last year,  Woll went 12-11-1 with a 2.94 GAA and a .907 SV% in the regular season while going 2-0 with a 0.86 GAA and a .964 SV% in the playoffs before getting hurt.

Samsonov Likely Won’t Be Back With The Maple Leafs

With Toronto poised to chase Brossoit, Samsonov’s time with the Maple Leafs is likely finished.

Samsonov spent two years with Toronto but lost his starting job in the playoffs to Woll in both years. With the Russian netminder being a pending free agency, Treliving hinted at him likely not being brought back.

“I believe in Joe as a goaltender. We have to support Joe. Ilya’s contract is up, but we obviously have to attempt to put ourselves in a situation where we don’t have the second-best goalkeeper in each of these series,” Treliving said.

Samsonov went 23-7-8 with a 3.13 GAA and a .890 SV% in the regular season and in the playoffs had a 3.01 GAA and a .896 SV%.

What goaltender Toronto ends up signing or trading for remains to be seen. But, Brossoit is the latest goalie to be connected to the Maple Leafs as is Nashville Predators goalie Juuse Saros.

Cole Shelton Cole Shelton covers the NHL for Heavy.com. He has covered pro and college sports since 2016, including bylines at BJ Penn, USA Today, SB Nation, Rotowire, Canadian Baseball Network and more. More about Cole Shelton

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