Dave Litman
The NHL Trade Season is off and running, as the first post-Cup swap has been completed. The Philadelphia Flyers have obtained a goaltender they’ve had on their radar for some time, trading for Joseph Woll from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto also sends rugged defenseman Simon Benoit to Philly. In exchange, they receive blueliner Emil Andrae, goalie Samuel Ersson, and a third-round pick in this year’s NHL Draft. Both Andrae and Ersson are restricted free agents.
For the Flyers, they now have established a solid tandem in goal, pairing Woll with last year’s starter, Dan Vladar. Woll has a career .906 save percentage and 2.94 goals against average. He’s shared the Toronto net with Anthony Stolarz the past couple of seasons, though both have had their injury concerns. Woll, who turns 28 next month, is signed for another two years, at a reasonable $3.67 million AAV.
Ersson had a dreadful year in Philly in a backup role, and the Flyers will have no qualms whatsoever moving on from him. As an RFA, one has to wonder if Toronto intends to re-sign him.
Emil Andrae is the key for Toronto in Joseph Woll trade to Flyers
The key to the deal for the Leafs is Andrae, a former second-round pick of the Flyers in the 2020 NHL Draft. He was squeezed out of the Flyers’ plans, for the most part, during this spring’s playoffs. He got into just four games during their run to the second round, and averaged just 11 minutes of ice time when he did dress.
Andrae is undersized at 5’9″, but still plays a physical game. It’s his puck-moving ability, however, that was coveted most by new Leafs GM John Chayka. Andrae is an excellent outlet passer who excels at starting the rush.
Chayka had talked about making the Leafs’ blueline much more mobile. Certainly, exchanging Benoit for Andrae does that. But Andrae is also a two-way D-man, and posted an impressive plus/minus rating of +15 this past season to go with 13 points in 61 games. He averaged 15:20 time on ice per night, and added 58 blocked shots and 68 hits. Obviously, Chayka sees some untapped potential in the 24-year-old.
This was Chayka’s first significant move as the new GM for the Leafs. The immediate reaction around Leafs Nation is mixed, at best. While Stolarz’s extensive injury history leaves him a risky choice as the man to count on in goal, the emergence of the sizeable Dennis Hildeby this past season in his 20 appearances for Toronto at the NHL level (.912 Sv%), and the performance of Artur Akhtyamov during the AHL Marlies’ current playoff run (.924 Sv%) must have the team confident that their goaltending is in good hands.
