In this edition of Toronto Maple Leafs News & Rumors, I’ll take a look at young goalie Joseph Woll’s impressive potential and performance coming through the Maple Leafs’ ranks. Second, I’ll report that the Maple Leafs have signed top prospect Easton Cowan to an entry-level contract (ELC).
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Third, I’ll wonder if Bobby McMann’s journey from an undrafted player to American Hockey League (AHL) success with the Maple Leafs organization might end this season. Would he survive waivers if the team tried to sneak him through? How is he like former Maple Leafs’ player Mason Marchment?
Item One: Joseph Woll Is a Goalie on the Rise
In a few short seasons, Woll has shown remarkable potential. For me, he’s been one of the feel-good stories within the Maple Leafs’ organization. He’s young, but he’s hung in there when he’s been called to do so. His work during last season’s playoffs was strong. His record was 1-2, but he kept his team in the games he played.
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Despite his limited sample size, his NHL record of nine wins and two losses, with a strong 2.38 goals-against average and .924 save percentage suggest that he can do a solid job in the crease. He’s a suitable backup to Ilya Samsonov. While he needs more experience, the only way to get experience is to play some games. He should have that chance this season.
Whether he stays in the backup role this season or becomes more of a tandem 1A and 1B with Samsonov will depend on how the season goes. That said, Woll is on an upward trajectory. The best-case scenario would be if he and Samsonov could come to split games more evenly as the season progressed.
Who can read the tea leaves, but in my mind the Maple Leafs’ goalie situation looks as promising this season as it has in the past while. Can fans imagine how settled the team’s goalie situation would be for the next while if these two goalies could come to carry the load in the crease?
Item Two: Maple Leafs Sign Easton Cowan to Entry-Level Contract
Last week, the Maple Leafs officially signed their top prospect, Easton Cowan, to an ELC. He was chosen 28th overall in the first round of the recent draft. It was the draft pick the team gained in the trade with the Washington Capitals for Rasmus Sandin. The ELC carried the standard $95,000 signing bonus along with a $950,000 cap hit when he begins to play for the Maple Leafs.
If Cowan doesn’t make the Maple Leafs roster this season (and it would be a miracle if he did), he would be assigned to the Ontario Hockey League’s (OHL) London Knights. The expectation is that he will spend the next two seasons with the Knights before moving to the American Hockey League’s (AHL) Toronto Marlies for the 2025-26 season. When he plays with the Marlies, he’ll earn an annual salary of $82,500.
That Cowan was selected by the Maple Leafs was a surprise to some fans. He surely wasn’t projected to go that high in the mock drafts. However, the team is confident in his potential. I’ve heard him described as a combination between former Maple Leafs’ player Nazem Kadri and current player Mitch Marner – although that thought in itself is a bit of a mind-blower.
What we know about Cowan is that he’s relentless. He does actually attribute his puck-pursuit tendencies to Kadri. He rose in the team’s estimation because of his impressive postseason play, when he averaged more than a point per game.
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Speaking of Kadri, if Cowan can carry himself on the ice similar to a Kadri or even a Darcy Tucker, he would have the potential to quickly become a Maple Leafs’ fan favorite. That could be fun.
What’s Next for the Maple Leafs?
There comes a time when the Maple Leafs just have to fish or cut bait on its own prospects. While I’m not typically critical of the organization’s choices – trades or signings – one thing I haven’t been able to understand is what seems to be the lack of trust in their own prospects.
The organization has a good scouting system; and, to my mind, chooses solid-enough young prospects even deep in the draft. However, they sometimes seem to like other teams’ prospects as much or more than their own. If I were to change one thing about the team’s operation it would be to introduce its own prospects into the NHL before they went out and signed depth players for the team’s bottom-six roles.
For me, Bobby McMann is a case in point. He’s had a remarkable journey from being undrafted through AHL success with the Marlies. He’s inked a two-year NHL contract with the Maple Leafs. While he’s had only an assist in 10 NHL games, he hasn’t looked out of place.
Now he’s 27 years old and he isn’t waiver exempt. He either stays on the Maple Leafs’ roster or they try to waive him to place him back with the Marlies. In my mind, he’s another Mason Marchment-type player.
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Marchment wasn’t drafted either and had his breakout with the Florida Panthers at a similar age to McMann. During the 2021-22 season, he played 54 games and scored 18 goals, and added 29 assists (for 47 points). He even had a plus-29 rating. Now he’s a mainstay with the Dallas Stars.
I fear he’ll be lost if the team tries to slip him through waivers. If that does happen, I hope he lands somewhere else and goes on to have a solid NHL career. But, blue-collar players are my favourites. McMann is one of them for sure.