The Toronto Maple Leafs just can’t seem to catch a break. The 2025-26 season is just under 30 games in and they have struggled with injuries, very badly. The latest injury is to Joseph Woll, who had taken over the starting goalie role with Anthony Stolarz out. Now with both their goalies on the shelf, they will need to turn to Dennis Hildeby and Artur Akhtyamov to try and keep them afloat for the time being. At least until they make a move to bring in someone else to hold down the fort, or one of Woll or Stolarz returns and takes over the starting job.
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Well, because of that, there have been a few mock trades circulating the internet today. And there is one that stands out from Heavy.com that has a lot of viewers questioning it. So let’s break it down and see whether it does make sense for the Maple Leafs to do or not.
Binnington for Woll Mock Trade
In a recent article from Heavy.com titled “Maple Leafs Could Make Hockey Trade to Solve Crucial Need.” They discuss a mock trade between the Maple Leafs and the St. Louis Blues that has fans confused. The trade sees Toronto send the injured Woll to the Blues in exchange for Jordan Binnington.
Jordan Binnington, St. Louis Blues (Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images)
And while Binnington would be a great addition, it really doesn’t make much sense for the Maple Leafs to trade Woll and bring in Binnington, who makes double what he makes. Not only would trading Woll be a hit to the dressing room, it would also increase the goalie cap hit on the team to $8.25 million. Obviously, on paper it would be great to add another Stanley Cup winner, especially one who is being looked at as a starter for Team Canada at the Olympics. But logically, it doesn’t make much sense for either team, but more specifically the Maple Leafs.
In terms of salary, the Maple Leafs would need to either move money out or give up more than just Woll in order to make this deal work. Binnington is in his fifth year of a six year contract that pays him $6 million per season. Whereas Woll only earns $3.6 million for the next three seasons. Toronto doesn’t have $2.4 million in cap space to be able to take on Binnington’s entire cap hit. So they would likely need to pay more in assets to convince the Blues to retain half of his $6 million contract.
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Unfortunately, the Maple Leafs don’t have the extra assets to make that work. Unless they agree to move a Nick Robertson or a Calle Jarnkrok as part of the deal. But it does seem like if the Blues agree to move their starting goalie, their asking price would be a lot higher than a tandem goalie in Woll and a bottom six forward to make the money work.
So while it would be great to see Brad Treliving go out and make a splash with their goalie tandem out with injuries, it is unlikely that the Maple Leafs are going to acquire Binnington. If they were to trade for a goalie, it would likely be a player Luke Fox names in his most recent “Quick Shifts” article. He mentioned Laurent Brossoit from the Chicago Blackhawks, or even Alex Lyon from the Buffalo Sabres, a goalie that isn’t going to cost the farm to acquire and could help steady the crease until one or both Stolarz and Woll return.
