The Toronto Maple Leafs have traded goaltender Joseph Woll and defenceman Simon Benoit to the Philadelphia Flyers for goaltender Samuel Ersson, defenceman Emil Andrae and a third-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.
The trade is the first major move of general manager John Chayka’s tenure with the Maple Leafs. The team had been expected to move a goaltender this summer after Woll, Anthony Stolarz and Dennis Hildeby all saw playing time with the NHL club last season, though Ersson replaces Woll in the logjam in the crease.
Woll went 15-16-7 this past season, posting a .899 save percentage with a 3.31 GAA. It was a significant step back after he posted a 27-14-1 record with a .909 save percentage and a 2.73 GAA the year prior. The 27-year-old netminder is signed through 2027-28 at a cap hit of $3.67 million.
In Philadelphia, Woll will pair in net with Dan Vladar, with whom the Flyers are closing on a long-term contract extension.
“We felt that Woll is a step forward for us, and will be able to help Vladdy in a tandem role,” Flyers general manager Daniel Briere said Tuesday.
Benoit, 27, had six assists in 73 games with the Maple Leafs this past season while averaging 17:18 of ice time.
The 6-foot-4, left-shot defenceman is entering the final season of a three-year, $4.05 million contract that carries an annual cap hit of $1.35 million. He is set to become an unrestricted free agent next July.
RFAs Ersson, Andrae heading to Toronto
Both Ersson and Andrae are pending restricted free agents.
Ersson, 26, went 14-11-5 last season with the Flyers, posting an .870 save percentage and a 3.12 GAA. He has career record of 65-50-17 record, 3.01 goals-against average and .884 save percentage.
Adding Ersson does little to solve the goaltender logjam in Toronto as Hildeby and Artur Akhtyamov are also expected to fight for a roster spot in training camp. Stolarz is just entering the first season of a four-year, $15 million extension signed last summer by then-general manager Brad Treliving.
Chayka was non-committal on tendering Ersson in order to keep his rights as a restricted free agent.
“Someone that we identified as having some upside,” Chayka said. “We’ll get together with (director of goaltending development and scouting Curtis McElhinney) and make that decision.”
Andrae, 24, had two goals and 13 points in 61 games with the Flyers in 2025-26. He added one assist while appearing in four of the team’s playoff games.
The 5-foot-9 blueliner, who is coming off his entry-level contract, was originally selected by Philadelphia in the second round (54th overall) of the 2020 NHL Draft.
“Emil, we loved his competitive edge, but it did make our defense a little small at times, with (Cam York) and (Jamie) Drysdale there, so the three of them wasn’t ideal,” Briere explained.
“Smart, competitive player,” Chayka said of Andrae. “Helps us break the puck out more efficiently … can also help join the rush and support offence.”
For the moment, the trade clears just over $5 million in cap space for the Maple Leafs, though both Ersson and Andrae need new deals and Hildeby’s cap hit of $841,667 will likely be added to the NHL roster.
The Maple Leafs still have six defencemen under contract for next season after moving Benoit in Morgan Rielly, Jake McCabe, Chris Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Brandon Carlo and Philippe Myers.
