With Woll and Stolarz out, a Stanley Cup Champion could be a cheap goalie option for the Maple Leafs

Right now, things are a little bleak when it comes to the health of the Toronto Maple Leafs goaltenders. Anthony Stolarz has been out nearly a month with a lower-body injury, with no timeline for when he is to come back. Joseph Woll also went down with a lower-body injury, with the hope he's back at the end of the week.

It'll be up to Dennis Hildeby and Artur Akhtyamov for now, and while there is a chance they can hold down the fort in the meantime, the team really needs a stable and consistent NHL goalie.

But NHL analyst Chris Johnston believes there could be a solution.

The topic of the league-wide goaltending was brought up on The Chris Johnston show, with the analyst mentioning that the NHL has a lack of tradable goalies, and with how things are looking for St. Louis, they could entertain a trade for Jordan Binnington.

Johnston stated:

Johnston did not explicitly state the Maple Leafs should pursue Binnington, but that he is simply discussing Binnington's name being discussed in trade speculation.

But it does bring up an interesting caveat in Toronto's season. The team is without an everyday NHL starter for now, and even if they return in due time, there's always another injury risk looming overhead.

St. Louis' record isn't the worst now at 11-12-7. However if you look deeper, that balances out to an 11-19 record if you account for all the OT losses; points notwithstanding.

Binnington has struggled this season with a 7-7-5 record, a 3.29 GAA and .875 SV% but his career numbers are great. He holds a 180-123-41 record with a 2.80 GAA and .905 SV%, all with St. Louis.

For a team who snuck into the playoffs and took the President's Trophy winners to seven games last year, it's a stark turnaround and it could begin to facilitate moves for GM Doug Armstrong.

He has stated previously that he is 'open for business' and while names like Jordan Kyrou and Pavel Buchnevich have been discussed, the emergence of Binnington as a target adds a whole new dynamic.

But can Toronto afford it? While it wouldn't be a landscape-changing blockbuster, it would cost Toronto a bit in terms of assets. St. Louis would likely prefer a package including an NHL-ready player and someone on the cusp, as they have not indicated they are going full rebuild as of this moment.

Dishing off Matias Maccelli, Calle Jarnkrok, and perhaps a couple mid-range picks would twist Armstrong's arm enough to make a deal.

Plus, you're bringing in a goalie who won a Stanley Cup with Berube in 2019, and a player who is no stranger to playing under immense pressure in the NHL or internationally; he's faced the best and been able to shut them down.

It could be considered an overpayment, especially considering he isn't under contract nearly as long as Woll and Stolarz, and Toronto would need to find a trade for one of them; they can't have 3 NHL goalies on the roster, and none of them deserve to be toiling in the AHL or the press box either.

So it'll be tough for the Maple Leafs to bring in a player like Binnington, who would no doubt help their goaltending issues, but in doing so creates a logjam in the net that becomes a whole new problem for Brad Treliving.