Joseph Woll

Joseph Woll grew up in Dardenne Prairie, Missouri, and was selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the third round — first pick of that round, 62nd overall — of the 2016 NHL Draft. The left-catching, 6-foot-3, 212-pound American would spend years developing before making his NHL debut, then build his way into Toronto's starting conversation one season at a time.

Woll's first taste of NHL action came in the 2021-22 season, when he appeared in four games, going 3-1 with a 2.75 goals-against average, a .911 save percentage, and one shutout. The following year he played seven games and went 6-1, posting a 2.16 GAA and .932 save percentage. Those limited appearances kept his career numbers modest in terms of volume, but his 2023-24 season brought a fuller workload: 25 games, a 12-11 record, a 2.94 GAA, and a .907 save percentage.

His 2024-25 campaign represented the largest sample of his NHL career to that point. In 42 games he went 27-14 with a 2.73 GAA and a .909 save percentage, adding one shutout. For the 2025-26 season he has appeared in 39 games, going 15-16-7 with a 3.34 GAA, a .899 save percentage, and two shutouts. Across 117 NHL regular-season games, Woll carries a career record of 63-43-9, a 2.94 GAA, a .906 save percentage, and four shutouts.

InGoal Magazine has covered Joseph Woll in one podcast appearance and 14 Pro Reads.

Woll first appeared on InGoal Radio Episode 158 with host David Hutchison in February 2022 ^[1], a conversation that would become the foundation for an ongoing series of video breakdown sessions that InGoal has described as among the most extensive it has conducted with any NHL goaltender. That first sit-down produced five Pro Reads entries, and InGoal returned for a second extended video session during the 2023-24 season and again more recently, producing entries that now run into the mid-teens.

On breakaways, Woll has shared the depth guidelines he relies on — a framework built on repetition rather than in-game calculation. "It's not something I think about at all in the moment," he told InGoal. "It just happens." ^[2] The full breakdown of how he applies those principles against the greatest goal scorer in NHL history — Alexander Ovechkin on a breakaway from the blue line — is available to InGoal members ^[3].

A Pro Read covering a 5-on-3 penalty kill situation against the Buffalo Sabres details how Woll manages screens and depth on multi-man advantages, including his practice of moving with his upper body while keeping his lower body stable ^[4]. An earlier entry breaks down a backdoor save off a no-look cross-ice pass, one that Woll was candid about critiquing himself — "Ideally I don't drop in the butterfly and it's a clean push and it hits me in the chest" — while also tracing what he learned from watching Carey Price manage similar situations ^[5].

A sequence against the Ottawa Senators involving a 2-on-1 with Tim Stutzle and Vladimir Tarasenko produced one of the more self-critical breakdowns in the series. Woll explained how an early commitment to a Reverse-VH left him scrambling, and what an overlap would have given him instead ^[6]. A companion entry from an in-zone sequence against the Seattle Kraken examines how Woll uses looks off the puck to build a picture of the zone before a pass arrives, and what he'd have preferred to do differently on his push across ^[7].

Post play and crease management have been recurring subjects across the series. One entry breaks down how Woll defaults into a down position whenever the puck goes behind the net for a reset — a habit shaped in part by getting scored on when he stayed upright during the Stanley Cup Playoffs — and the role goalie coach Curtis Sanford played in refining that approach ^[8]. Another covers the inside edge and how loading it properly enables the rotation needed to recover from a butterfly or Reverse position ^[9].

The series has also addressed post technique in specific detail. Woll described learning a skate-on-to-toe-tie transfer from watching Sergei Bobrovsky and said he has practiced the blend extensively because the transfer with skate-on post is quicker while toe tie seals the gap better ^[10]. On when to use a traditional VH versus a Reverse — and why choosing the Reverse in one particular Tarasenko sequence would have likely resulted in a goal — Woll breaks it down instinctually before the video session helps him articulate why ^[11].

InGoal noted in a 2024 entry that Woll's appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs was cut short by a back injury, and that he had posted an NHL-leading adjusted save percentage in his two games before being forced out ^[12]. Earlier that season, a high ankle sprain suffered December 7 interrupted what InGoal described as a stretch during which Woll was playing himself into Vezina Trophy consideration ^[10]. He returned via a conditioning loan to the Toronto Marlies before rejoining the Leafs lineup ^[13].

Screen management has been a thread throughout the series as well, dating back to the earliest sessions. A 2023 entry covering a moving screen from Winnipeg Jets forward Pierre-Luc Dubois captures Woll's preference for staying tall and holding a sightline when possible — and what he reads when he decides a switch is necessary instead ^[14]. The full archive of all 14 Pro Reads entries is available to InGoal members.