While the Stanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricanes continue to celebrate their achievement, the rest of the NHL gets to work on the offseason. Things got started with a good old-fashioned hockey trade. The Toronto Maple Leafs and Philadelphia Flyers decided it was time to swap goalies and give them a change of scenery.
The Toronto Maple Leafs and Philadelphia Flyers Swap Goaltenders and Defensemen
The Maple Leafs acquired Emil Andrae, Samuel Ersson, and a 2026 third-round NHL Draft pick for Joseph Woll and Simon Benoit. But as Russ Cohen of Sportsology.com told SiriusXM NHL Network, this hockey trade could benefit both teams.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
Host: “There’s a lot of talk about there’s going to be a lot of movement, and you know what, maybe there is. And the trade that just happened between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Toronto Maple Leafs is the perfect place for it.
First of all, there were rumors about Woll and the Flyers back in March. I know they were because I talked with Dave Pagnotta; there were rumours, so it came to fruition. So, maybe walk us through the trade, why both teams made the trade, and what you think of it.”
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Russ Cohen: “Okay, so from the Flyers’ perspective, and I just did an interview yesterday (Monday), where I was like, ‘Hey, like today Sam Ersson is their backup goalie, but they’re trying to upgrade.’ It was obvious back in March that they were trying to upgrade, right? So that’s nothing necessarily against Sam. I mean, once in a while he gets dinged up, the same as Woll, but they were just looking for somebody within they felt that could be more of a solid 1B for more games. And I think Sam can only play a certain amount of games.”
Host: “Vladar is their guy, right? They’re going to sign into this big contract, are they not, or long contract?”
Cohen: “Yeah. Dan, Danny said today that they’re negotiating. They’re probably going to sign him to a five-year deal. I would advise him to do four, but you know how that works. But at any rate, so Sam’s a good goalie, but he can only play a certain amount of games. Woll would take the pressure off of having to play the Vladar as many games as they played him last year, because that was his career high, and they probably don’t want to go beyond that. So, this gives them that insurance on that.
Emil Andrae, unfortunately, was just getting marginalized by Rick Tocchet, so he was never going to really get the chance here. Danny really liked him, and if you look at when the Flyers had him in, even in the playoffs, they played better with him because of the puck movement and the passing, and he’s very good at that, and feisty. And if you wanted to, you could put him on the power play too, and he could do that. But Rick didn’t like that because he’s smaller, so he wouldn’t do it, right? So, so there’s that. The third-round pick is the third-round pick.
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Then from the Leafs perspective, I understand Leafs fans are like, ‘Oh, we got Sam Ersson. That’s a downgrading in goal.’ There was some hope that they were going to not trade Joseph Woll, but I never saw that. I always thought he was going to be the guy that got traded, because Stolarz’s contract, due to the term, is unmovable. It doesn’t matter what the AAV is; it matters on the term. Yeah, and I kept trying to tell people that, but they don’t want to listen, so it’s fine.”
Host: “If somebody was going to move, it was always going to be Woll.”
Cohen: “And what’s interesting is I think Benoit was a useful player. I did watch him play for Toronto. Philly likes his size. So I think that’s a situation where it’s like, I think the Leafs needed somebody they could count on, who could be second or third pairing, most likely third, who could pass and puck move and do all that, because they got a little slow on D. And the Flyers were looking for the opposite, they were looking for more physical, and that’s what Tocchet kind of like.
So, I think that’s where the switch is. I think the upgrade to the Leafs is on the blue line, and the upgrade to the Flyers was a net, and they’ve got to try and maximize Benoit for the blue line, where the third runs in. So I honestly think this is an even trade, but Leafs fans won’t see it that way.”
The Toronto Maple Leafs and Philadelphia Flyers Swap Goaltenders and Defensemen
Now, the Toronto Maple Leafs can decide how they want to handle Ersson. While the Flyers look to extend Vladar on the dreaded five-year, $5 million contract, with Woll as the backup. So there is a chance that people will look back after the overreaction settles, and both teams will benefit from swapping players and fitting them into their systems.
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