It wasn’t long ago that the Toronto Maple Leafs officially hired John Chayka as their new general manager, replacing Brad Treliving, who was terminated on March 30 after it became clear that the club was going to miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Chayka’s first major move as general manager of the club was to dismiss head coach Craig Berube, who was only the second coach since 2004 behind Sheldon Keefe to lead the Maple Leafs to a series victory in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. However, after failing to qualify in 2025-26, Chayka felt a change in leadership was needed behind the bench.
But just weeks later, Chayka has made a major move – this time, involving roster players. The Leafs traded goaltender Joseph Woll along with defenseman Simon Benoit to the Philadelphia Flyers in return for goaltender Samuel Ersson, defenseman Emil Andrae and a third-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.
It brings an end to the era of Woll with the Maple Leafs, who saw him likely as their goaltender of the future. It now also means that they are rolling forward with the injury-prone Anthony Stolarz, who missed a good chunk of the recently completed 2025-26 NHL season with a nerve injury, as their starter.
Toronto Maple Leafs Fans React To The Explosive Trade Of Joseph Woll To The Flyers
As soon as the news of Chayka trading Joseph Woll to the Flyers was confirmed, Maple Leafs fans began weighing in on the explosive move, and more than a few replies weren’t exactly receptive to his move.
This fan wrote, “Excuse me? Traded Woll for a bag of garbage? wtf??”
“Been cautiously optimistic about Chayka… Aaaaaaand now I’m a pessimist again,” another fan wrote.
Another fan exclaimed, “Chayka 0/1, fleece job by the Flyers.”
Keeping in that vein, this fan demanded to know, “What dumbass in the front office thought this was a good idea?”
However, this fan stuck up for Chayka, saying, “Anybody who thinks we got fleeced clearly doesn’t know puck, Benoit a Defensive Dman that isn’t good defensively.. Woll who plays 20-30 games and gets hurt every year for a backup w potential a puck mover who has room to grow and a pick. People are brain dead 😂”
The Maple Leafs Now Have A Pair Of New Players
Ersson, whom the Flyers selected in the fifth round (143rd overall pick) in the 2017 NHL Draft, is now with the Maple Leafs and will try and challenge Stolarz for playing time. So far in his career, he’s amassed a record of 65-50-17 with a 3.01 goals-against average and a .884 save percentage with seven shutouts.
Meanwhile, the Flyers took Andrae with the 54th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. Across 107 career regular-season appearances, he has registered three goals and 17 assists. In addition, he’s played in four Stanley Cup Playoff games, during which he picked up a lone assist.
Woll, whom the Maple Leafs selected in the third round (62nd overall) of the 2016 NHL Draft, has posted a 63-43-9 record so far in his career with a 2.94 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage with four shutouts.
Additionally, he’s gone 6-6 with a 2.73 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage with one shutout in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
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