Joseph Woll Misses Maple Leafs' Saturday Morning Skate: Craig Berube Provides Key Update on His Status

Since being put on the injured reserve at the start of the season, and having an undetermined timeline for when he is scheduled to return, a lot of questions have arisen about Joseph Woll's readiness when he comes back, and when he does come back he's coming in having lost his #1 starter spot already.

Joseph Woll's return was expected to be close, seeing as the goaltender was practicing with the Maple Leafs on Thursday, working the first time with the squad since his injury. However, he wasn't seen skating Saturday which led to some to think perhaps he wasn't as close as first thought.

But head coach Craig Berube cleared things up and didn't have any negatives about Woll's absence:

It's just a scheduled day off according to Berube however it's not a good look for Woll to be back on the ice and then not skating the next day. Yes, it's an optional skate, but if Woll wants to make sure he's in the best conditioning possible to prepare for games, perhaps a skatearound wouldn't be the worst idea. Woll could have wanted to rest in order to feel less pain and lower the chance of aggravating the injury, but if he was able to just practice like he did on Wednesday with the developmental coaches being loose enough and on the ice would help him with confidence.

The Maple Leafs signed Woll to a three-year contract extension this summer and pegged him to be their future starting netminder. Free agent signing Anthony Stolarz has come in this season and performed very well for the Maple Leafs in Woll's absence, and his impressive ability to control the game and bring a veteran presence to the net might be too enticing for head coach Craig Berube to pass on. Woll has been impressive in his short time with Toronto, going 22-13-1 with a 2.76 GAA and .912 SV% and being the key factor into why Toronto went to seven games with the Boston Bruins in last year's playoffs.

While Woll's absence may just be a scheduled day off, it's disheartening to see Woll once again find himself injured so many times in his young career. If he manages to stay healthy he'll no doubt be a huge factor in Toronto's success, but if he keeps staying on the shelf: Toronto may have to eventually end up leaving him there.