
Player-by-player final look at 2024-25 Toronto Maple Leafs
Contract: One year, $2.5 million
Joseph Woll
Like Stolarz, Woll didn't tire while hitting a career-high. For Woll, it was 42 games, and he had a .909 save percentage, 13th in the NHL and tied with his pal Jake Oettinger of the Dallas Stars. Woll had a good regular season on the whole, but couldn't overtake Stolarz, who simply was better. Woll would've had to have been close to perfect to match Florida's Sergei Bobrovsky in the second round and we know what happened. All things considered, expect Woll to take a good run at the starter's job when training camp opens in September.
Contract: Three years, $3.66 million
DEFENCEMEN
Simon Benoit
The 26-year-old developed into what a team should want out of a third-pairing defenceman: Few concerns, in general, when he's on the ice and a steady physical presence. Not only was the 6-foot-4, 211-pound Benoit a Game 3 overtime hero against Ottawa after he scored once in 79 regular-season games, he led Leafs D-men in the playoffs with 42 hits and led the team in blocks. Despite where he lands on the depth chart, Benoit should have no worries about trying to hang on to his job in camp.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


National Post
8 hours ago
- National Post
Former Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber to make his Blue Jays debut Friday in Miami
The long-awaited and much-anticipated Blue Jays debut for former Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber has officially been set in stone. Article content Fittingly, the right-hander will be on the mound for the first time as a Blue Jay at LoanDepot Park this Friday in the series opener against the host Miami Marlins. Article content Article content In a way, the Jays have Bieber on loan following the team's acquisition on trade deadline last month in a deal from the Cleveland Guardians. Article content Keep in mind Bieber has a player option for next season, which, if he decides to initiate, will make him a free agent by as early as this off-season. Article content For now, the Jays know Bieber's start will be, hopefully, the first of many as baseball's post-season approaches. Article content Bieber, who won the AL Cy Young Award in 2020. has not appeared on a big-league mound since April 2024 when he pitched for Cleveland. Article content He would undergo Tommy John Surgery on his elbow. To acquire Bieber, the Jays dealt prospect Khal Stephen to the Guardians. Article content Blue Jays manager John Schneider dropped the Bieber news prior to Monday's first pitch in Pittsburgh where the Jays began the first of a six-game road trip following a 4-2 homestand. Article content Curiously, Schneider would not tip his hand when it came to naming his starters for the second and third games of the Marlins series. Article content Interestingly, once Bieber is activated a corresponding move must be made. Article content When George Springer made his return Saturday following a concussion issue, the Jays optioned Joey Loperfido to Buffalo. Article content Like Springer, Bieber is the ultimate pro who has the potential to have an immediate impact. Article content Bieber has been trending well since his acquisition. Article content In his final rehab appearance, the 30-year-old pitched seven shutout innings, while recording four strikeouts and yielding six hits. Article content Now that the Bieber watch is over, it will be interesting to see how the Jays manage their starting rotation. Article content


Winnipeg Free Press
9 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Florida QB DJ Lagway takes another step toward returning from a strained left calf
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Florida quarterback DJ Lagway took team repetitions Monday for the first time since training camp began, a promising sign for the 15th-ranked Gators as they start ramping up for their season opener. Although still wearing a noncontact jersey, Lagway stepped on the field for 11-on-11 drills for the first time since straining his left calf while running with teammates in July. The sophomore had been 'modified' in practice for three weeks, limited to throwing mostly on the side and in individual drills. It was the latest injury for the Heisman Trophy hopeful who missed spring practice with a shoulder injury after undergoing sports hernia surgery. 'He's feeling much better, and he's moving around well,' Napier said following practice Monday. Florida's star player also was limited last fall with shoulder soreness and slowed in November because of a strained left hamstring. The Gators, who won their final four games last season, open the season Aug. 30 against Long Island University. Lagway completed 60% of his passes for 1,915 yards, with 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions in 2024. He took over the starting role after Graham Mertz tore a knee ligament at Tennessee in October. The Gators have little experience behind Lagway, with former Yale transfer Aidan Warner, freshman Tramell Jones Jr. and college journeyman Harrison Bailey competing for the backup role. 'It's still very much a battle,' Napier said. 'I wish I had more clarity, but I don't. So we'll continue to work with that group this week, and the closer we'll get (to the opener), the more clarity we'll have. So still nothing clear cut.' ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: and


Vancouver Sun
10 hours ago
- Vancouver Sun
PWHL Vancouver: Coach Brian Idalski's history includes Hammer time
PWHL Vancouver coach Brian Idalski can obviously talk pro women's hockey. He can also talk Dave (The Hammer) Schultz. Idalski, 54, added to what has to be one of the more unique resumes in the sport a few weeks back when he was named bench boss of the Vancouver expansion team that starts play based out of the Pacific Coliseum in the fall. Idalski was coach of Team China at the Beijing 2022 Olympics. He guided a Chinese team in a Russian pro women's league for three seasons. He was bench boss of the University of North Dakota squad that helped produce American Olympians like twin sisters Jocelyne and Monique Lamoureux but folded in 2017 due to funding constraints at the school. Before that, the Warren, Mich., native was a steady, stay-at-home defenceman who saw action in minor pro for five seasons. That included suiting up in 1996-97 for the Madison Monsters, a team in the Colonial Hockey League that was coached by Schultz, a winger for the Philadelphia Flyers in their Broad Street Bullies days. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. There have been four seasons in NHL history where a player has amassed 400 minutes or more in penalties. Schultz owns two of those, including a league record 472 minutes in 1974-75. Schultz was at the helm for Idalski's second year in Madison. Mark Johnson was the coach for the first campaign, and as a player he was a stylish, savvy centre who starred with the 1980 U.S. Olympic team and then went on see duty in 11 seasons in the NHL. For comparison's sake, Johnson totalled a mere 269 minutes in the sin bin in his career. 'The Hammer? I enjoyed playing for him, but it was funny because that was such a different era,' said Idalski, who was heading up minor hockey camps at the North Shore Winter Club this past weekend. 'Mark had brought in some Europeans and we were playing on an Olympic-sized sheet, so we were all over the place. Dave had a hard time with that. He was used to the Broad Street Bullies in the 1970s, up and down the wing, get it in deep and go. 'He was a great human being. I really enjoyed playing for him as a person. But there are a fair number of stories coming out of that year that I still chuckle about.' Idalski comes to PWHL Vancouver after spending the past three seasons guiding the St. Cloud State University Huskies. The St. Cloud, Minn., program had a 16-point jump in the overall standings in his first season in 2022-23, leading Idalski to win U.S. College Hockey Online (USCHO) coach of the year honours. Part of the appeal with the new job is the roster that general manager Cara Gardner Morey has assembled. The forward crew includes national team stalwart Sarah Nurse along with homegrown talents Hannah Miller and Jenn Gardiner . The defence features reigning PWHL defender of the year finalists Claire Thompson and Sophie Jaques, and the netminding has two former starters in the loop in Kristen Campbell and Emerance Maschmeyer. The team looks like it will contend instantly and, as Idalski says, 'The fact that I get the keys to something that has the opportunity to be special right away is really something — normally, you have to cut your teeth, pay your dues for a few years.' Running an NCAA team has become a complicated proposition of late as well, with more frequent player movement due to looser transfer regulations and enticements like Name Image Likeness (NIL) sponsorship deals ruling the day. 'This is a best-on-best league, and how you show up, how you prepare, gives you have a chance to win and that's on you,' Idalski said. 'There's a lot of things in college … it didn't matter how much time I put or how hard I worked.' All told, Idalski has coached 18 seasons in the NCAA, including 10 at North Dakota. They were a prominent program then, particularly when they had the Lamoureux sisters. The pair represented the U.S. at three Olympics, including Vancouver 2010. In 2017, North Dakota shut down the team as well as the men's and women's swimming squads in a bid to slice $1.3 million from the athletic budget. 'I wouldn't wish that on anybody, especially with what we had built and what was around the corner for us,' Idalski said. 'But, out of that, I can turn around and say that it was one of the best things that happened to me. I got to go to the Olympics, I got to coach overseas and live in China and Russia. Who gets to do those things? 'I probably would have stayed in North Dakota another 10 or 15 years. I may have ended my career there. But it forced me to grow. Dealing with that made me a better person.' After North Dakota, Idalski went to the KRS Vanke Rays and guided the team from Shenzhen, China to two titles in three years in the Russian Zhenskaya Hockey League. That led to him being named bench boss of the Chinese team for Beijing 2022. China went 2-2-0 there. Highlights from that stretch for him — a kid who grew up in a Detroit suburb — included having breakfast with former Red Wings winger Slava Kozlov when their teams wound up staying at the same hotel, and watching former Red Wings centre Pavel Datsyuk play in a 5,000-seat arena. 'I loved it. I thought it was just an awesome experience,' Idalski said. The PWHL has yet to announce its schedule for its upcoming third season, which now features eight teams with the additions of Vancouver and Seattle. Teams played 30-game seasons last year, beginning on Nov. 30. Check the PWHL Vancouver website for more information . @SteveEwen SEwen@