Joseph Woll's Situation Just Got Even More Confusing

The Toronto Maple Leafs are still without goaltender Joseph Woll, who is currently away from the team for what was described as a family related matter, with Brad Treliving making clear that substance abuse is not involved.

An additional update from PuckPedia shared that Woll was placed on long-term injured reserve, which added more questions as to why Woll, who is away for a personal matter, was given an injury designation.

The series of events have confused Leafs fans, confused over what it all means that Woll is away from the team, and now on LTIR with updates about his status scarce, with the most recent update being from Craig Berube that revealed little new information, except that Berube hasn't spoken with him.

The Leafs have been forced to rely on Anthony Stolarz to carry on a larger workload than perhaps they were hoping to do, wanting to balance Stolarz and Woll, while solidifying Stolarz as the #1. For now, Stolarz takes the bulk of things, playing in six of Toronto's first seven games.

With what's keeping Woll off the lineup, speculation still exists, but the Leafs management has made clear, unless there's an update that they want out, they will put it out. In the meantime, the media will be left in the dark, and the Leafs to keep the leaks out.

Treliving has explained that Woll is away for personal reasons, and that he is not dealing with a substance related issue. What is notable is that Treliving, while General Manager of the Calgary Flames, used the same language when discussing defenseman Oliver Kylington, who missed the season due to struggles with his mental health.

Like Woll, Kylington was ruled out near the start of the season. Calgary wanted to place Kylington on LTIR but were unable to because they did not have the cap floor to be able to make the transaction, putting him on a season later.

As explained in a prior article on the subject, PuckPedia states that "To qualify for LTIR, a player must be expected to miss at least 10 NHL Games AND 24 days of the NHL season", meaning that Toronto placing Woll on LTIR may have been something the Leafs applied to get an exception on, unless retroactive to the start of the season, which is unknown.

Woll's privacy is being respected by the team, keeping quiet any leaks, with team reporters largely out of the loop and relying on the team for details on Woll's status, and the lack thereof.

The lack of updates have come as frustrating to fans and media, but largely understood to be the team protecting the privacy of their player, the Leafs are often light on details when discussing injury matters, not to give opponents an advantage and give those unavailable their space.

Fans are hoping for the best for Woll, and hoping to see him back on the ice. Forbid, if not, for all to be alright and to be able to be back with the team at a point in which he's ready.