The Toronto Maple Leafs welcomed back rookie netminder Joseph Woll to practice on Monday, after giving him the day off on Sunday in the first practice back from the All-Star break and bye week. However, as excited as folks were to see Woll return to the ice with the team, that excitement was very quickly tempered by Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe.
Following Monday's practice, Keefe directly contradicted himself when speaking on Joseph Woll's recovery timeline. First, Keefe told the media that the team was expecting Woll back in the middle of February. Then, almost immediately afterward, he revealed that Woll is "not anywhere close" to returning.
With the middle of the month just over a week away, Sheldon Keefe has already shut down Woll for the week, meaning that he won't play against Lond Island, Dallas or Ottawa this week. Is there an outside chance that Woll is ready to return next week? Well, fans are hopeful, but if Keefe's comments from today ring true, Woll's return may be even further off than originally anticipated.
Thankfully, the play of Ilya Samsonov has been top quality over his past 3 starts leading up to the bye week and All-Star break. Samsonov also cut his vacation short to get back to Toronto last week and get back to work well before this week's slate of games. Samsonov carries a combined .960 SV% over his last 3 games.
