Goaltender Joseph Woll is rejoining the Toronto Maple Leafs following an extended personal leave, the team announced.
Woll’s leave of absence to deal with a personal family matter began Sept. 23. The Maple Leafs did not provide a timeline for his return until revealing Friday that he would resume on-ice participation.
Toronto went 3-3-1 to open the season without Woll. Netminding partner Anthony Stolarz started six of those games and owned a 3.01 goals-against average and a .894 save percentage entering Friday’s road matchup with the Buffalo Sabres.
Interim backup Cayden Primeau, who was acquired on waivers Oct. 6, allowed four goals on 30 shots in his allotted start, a 7-4 win over the Nashville Predators.
Woll split the crease with Stolarz in 2024-25 and recorded a .909 save percentage in 42 appearances for Toronto, the Atlantic Division’s regular-season champion. He played seven playoff games, all in the second round against the Florida Panthers, after Stolarz was concussed in the series opener.
The 27-year-old Woll, a third-round draft pick of the Leafs in 2016, boasts a career .910 save percentage in 78 games (75 starts). He’s in the first season of a three-year, $11 million contract and was placed on long-term injured reserve Thursday in a procedural move to create salary-cap space.
