Maple Leafs, Joseph Woll discussing contract extension

The Toronto Maple Leafs and goaltender Joseph Woll are discussing a contract extension, Sportsnet can confirm.

ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports that the Leafs and Woll were closing in on a three-year contract extension with an average cap hit between $3.5 to $4 million.

Woll is entering the final year of his contract that carries a $766,667 cap hit and is eligible to sign an extension on July 1.

The 25-year-old appeared in 25 games this past season, posting a 12-11-1 record with a 2.94 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage.

Woll took over the net in the Leafs’ first-round series against the Boston Bruins with the team facing elimination and helped them force a Game 7 after posting a .086 goals-against average and .964 save percentage in three games, including two starts. Unfortunately, an injury at the end of Game 6 forced him to miss Game 7, which Toronto lost with Ilya Samsonov in net.

GM Brad Treliving confirmed that Woll suffered a SI joint sprain in his back, which was one of the two injuries he suffered this past season as the goaltender missed significant time with an ankle injury.

The Leafs general manager expressed his trust in Woll’s ability in net but when it comes to giving him the starter’s job going forward, the team needs to find a way to keep him healthy.

“I’ve got faith in Joe,” Treliving stated. “The biggest question with Joe is he’s gotten injured a lot. We have to dig into that.”