The Maple Leafs have a goalie predicament. Who can be trusted to start Game 1?

My old teammate Glenn Healy would strictly warm up on an obnoxiously loud, seldom maintained StairMaster before each game. At away games, he asked the opponent’s maintenance team to hunt one down to be placed in our visiting dressing room. He was obsessed with warming up on this thing.

Back in under-18 days, our goalie laid his equipment across the floor of the room and we weren’t allowed to step over it. We were forced to work around what looked like a crime scene.

When I first broke into the NHL with the Capitals, you could hardly tell goalie Don Beaupré was breathing before a game. He literally wouldn’t move, as if he were in a trance. Do I say hi? Or dare to wave my hand in front of his face to see if he blinks?

There has always been something more intense about a goalie’s mental approach compared to the rest of the team, but more recently that perception has started to wane. In fact, the approachability of goalies today has endeared them to not only fans but teammates as well.

At the beginning of the 2022-23 season, his first with the Maple Leafs, Ilya Samsonov’s colourful post-game quotes were the toast of the town after wins.

“I live day-by-day. Tomorrow I go to practice, have some smile and go on road trip,” he said playfully.

Perhaps it’s the rise of social and mainstream media where players in general have been humanized. lt has allowed us to see goalies such as Samsonov in a different light. His candidness in sharing his mental struggles earlier this season has undoubtedly led that charge.

His goalie partner, Joseph Woll, is of a similar ilk: talkative, honest and approachable to the media, fans and his teammates.

Those personalities may have bought the Leafs’ one-two goalie punch some patience from the fan base as they weave in and out of the crease on a nightly basis. But inside the organization, patience might be running a tad thin.

With 11 games left in the regular season, the question of who starts in net for Game 1 of the playoffs remains very much open-ended. And that’s a problem.

Look around the league and it would be hard to find another team with Stanley Cup aspirations in a similar predicament. The Bruins will ride with Jeremy Swayman, even though “backup” Linus Ullmark is more than capable of stealing a series on his own. Florida has an undisputed No. 1 in Sergei Bobrovsky, who stymied the Leafs in the second round last year. The same can be said for the Canucks, Stars, Jets, Avalanche, Rangers, Hurricanes and Oilers.

That leaves Toronto as the only team within the top 10 of the NHL standings debating who might be the most trustworthy netminder to open the post-season.

Part of that comes down to health and reliability. While Woll missed 85 days with a high-ankle sprain this season, Samsonov has shown signs of wear and tear of late.

Last week, he appeared to injure himself during the morning skate, but went on to make his scheduled start against the Hurricanes. Then on Saturday, the seriousness of the moment as he lay face down on the ice before leaving the game against the Oilers didn’t coincide with Sheldon Keefe’s post-game comments. Eyebrows were raised when the Leafs coach abruptly answered that Samsonov appeared to be “fine” despite how things looked.

It leads me to believe that the hard work Samsonov put in to gain the organization’s trust since he was demoted to the minors earlier this season may have suffered another setback.

It’s one thing to play well. It’s another to believe in a goaltender’s durability and reliability when the games really count. A big part of becoming a playoff hero is not disappearing when the team needs you most. That may be harsh when a player can’t control injuries, but a team doesn’t care if you can’t be counted on — they will simply move on to the next in line.

A similar situation ensued last playoffs when Samsonov left the ice in Game 3 against the Panthers after Leafs defenceman Luke Schenn slid into him. He never returned to the series as the net was handed to rookie Woll.

After the Leafs’ lacklustre effort against New Jersey on Tuesday, which included an unimpressive performance from Woll, we’re back to square one with key goaltender questions arising.

Those questions could conceivably be asked after every game over the final few weeks of the season, starting with Woll’s third-straight start on Thursday against Washington.

The sooner the Leafs get a final answer, the better.

Kyper’s Korner

• It’s sounding like newly acquired Leafs defenceman Joel Edmundson, who missed Tuesday’s game, could be out longer than day-to-day.
• While Mark Hunter has been linked to the vacant GM job in Columbus, his brother Dale, who is coaching the OHL’s London Knights, has not — yet. But now there’s word that some within the Blue Jackets organization wouldn’t mind seeing ownership bring in both Hunters as a package GM/coach deal.
• I wonder if the Senators would look at Capitals assistant coach Kirk Muller like Vancouver did when they eventually picked Rick Tocchet as their head coach. Their playing and coaching careers are fairly parallel; Stanley Cup champions, 1,000-plus games played, NHL head and associate coach experience and very well respected among current players.
• Those who want the court case involving five members of the 2018 world junior team expedited could soon get their wish. Some close to the case are suggesting it is advancing quicker than first thought.

Change my mind

On the Predators being this year’s version of the Panthers: I won’t predict a Cup final, but Roman Josi’s play will carry Nashville much farther than I had thought six months ago.