Camp a clean slate for all

Without established loyalties, new coach Berube will have several roster decisions to make

- KEVIN MCGRAN

New Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube has had all summer to familiarize himself with an offensively gifted roster that should find itself in the Stanley Cup playoffs for a ninth straight season.

Berube will come in with no established loyalties to, or sympathies for, any player in particular. It will be a clean slate for all. And with training camp opening for the team's 107th season, a number of key questions will need to be answered, beginning Wednesday.

Goaltending

The returning Joseph Woll, 26, will be the sentimental favourite for the starter's job, fresh off a three-year contract extension. Free-agent signing Anthony Stolarz, 30, had a demonstrably better 2023-24 season (that came with a Stanley Cup ring), but neither has been a No. 1 goalie in their NHL careers. Stolarz's career-high is 28 games (with Anaheim in 2021-22), while Woll hit 25 last year.

Woll's consistently bad luck with injuries has limited his progress. A high ankle sprain cost him most of the middle of last season, and he missed Game 7 of the playoffs against Boston with a head injury.

"It's obviously going to be a battle," Stolarz said. “It's tough as a goalie. There's only one spot. Only one guy can play. So, at the end of the day, you want to go out there (and) push each other, and that's going to make the team better."

The Leafs needed three goalies last year, and probably will again. That opens the door for 30-year-old Matt Murray, hoping to earn a job after missing all of last season with double-hip surgery.