The Toronto Maple Leafs have grabbed a goaltender with their 62nd overall selection, drafting Joseph Woll of the USNTDP at the top of the third round.
Leafs take Joey Woll at 62nd. Big goalie who's played well for USA internationally. From St. Louis.
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) June 25, 2016
The 6’3, 193 pound Woll is committed to Boston College of the NCAA next season, where he will be the successor to Thatcher Demko, who has left college to join the Canucks organization. His OHL rights belong to the Oshawa Generals, who drafted him in the ninth round in 2014.
Given their lack of depth in the system at the position and the fact that they haven’t drafted a goalie since Antoine Bibeau in 2013, this was a position the Maple Leafs were expected to address in the first half of the draft. Woll was ranked fifth by NHL Central Scouting among North American goalies.
Joseph Woll Rankings
- Ranked #37 by Hockeyprospect.com
- Ranked #70 by Future Considerations
- Ranked #104 by McKeen’s Hockey
- Ranked #5 by NHL Central Scouting (NA Goalies)
Joseph Woll Scouting Report
Woll is a big goalie that plays to his strengths, filling out the crease with his large size and has a will to compete. He moves well in the crease and looks quite controlled and fluid in his movements despite the heavy frame. Woll positions well on the initial shots and squares up to the shooter. With his size, it’s hard to get pucks past him once he gets into position. He does a good job battling in the crease and will maintain his position on jam-plays, shows some good reaction time and agility when finding pucks laying around the crease and snatching them up before the opposition gets the stick on it.
He could track the puck a bit better through traffic, his size helps him as pucks will hit him regardless, but sometimes he could do a better job finding a clear sight-line on point shots with bodies in front of him. In those situations his rebound control can be better as well, as pucks can bounce right back into the slot.
Overall, Woll offers solid potential for a team that is looking at a pro-sized goalie prospect with reasonably good movement and compete in his crease and that uses size to his advantage.
Joseph Woll Statistics
Year Team League GP GAA Save %
2013-14 St. Louis AAA Blues U16 T1EHL U16 18 1.71 0.933
2014-15 USNTDP Juniors USHL 18 4.21 0.878
U.S. National U17 Team USDP 29 3.48 0.886
USA U17 WHC-17 3 2.33 0.905
2015-16 USNTDP Juniors USHL 12 2.6 0.898
U.S. National U18 Team USDP 33 2.14 0.918
USA U18 WJC-18 3 1.34 0.947
2016-17 Boston College NCAA - - -
