After the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 5-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday, Dennis Hildeby admitted he needed to improve several facets of his game.
The 23-year-old allowed four goals in Toronto’s loss, dropping his save percentage down to .878 — one of the league’s worst — through six NHL games this season. Twelve hours after the game, the Maple Leafs sent him down to the Toronto Marlies, where he could use that time to work on his game.
They brought Matt Murray back up — who has a .970 save percentage, including two shutouts, in his last four games with the Marlies — to give him another shot in the Maple Leafs’ goal.
For Hildeby, it’s been a difficult hill to climb this season. He’s bounced up and down between the NHL and AHL several times and at the midway point of the year has 14 games to his name (eight with the Marlies and six with the Maple Leafs).
As young as he is, bobbing between two leagues might not be the best for his development. However, Hildeby believes he should be ready for whatever is thrown his way.
“Everybody in this league has done it. Something you’ve got to go through,” the goaltender said after the loss on Wednesday. “You’ve just got to find a way. I need to do it a little better, I think.”
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It’s not only going up and down that has made games a scarce commodity for Hildeby this season. Toronto also has an influx of goaltenders with Murray and goaltending prospect Artur Akhtyamov splitting the net down in the AHL.
(Akhtyamov is currently injured, meaning Hildeby should get most of the games, for now, with the Marlies.)
Getting playing time this year has been difficult.
“I mean, of course [it’s a challenge]. But like I said, every goalie in this league has done the same journey,” Hildeby asserted on Wednesday. “It is challenging for sure, but you just kind of find a way to deal with it.”
What Hildeby said is true. Whether going from the AHL to the NHL, or the CHL to the AHL, every goaltender will find transitioning to the next level of their career difficult.
Joseph Woll knows a thing or two about that. He bounced between the Maple Leafs and Marlies for two seasons before solidifying his spot in the NHL. Woll is now one of Toronto’s main goaltenders, sporting a .907 save percentage in 25 games this season.
“It’s not an easy league to go through and there are a lot of ups and downs. What I can say is, he’s a special goalie,” Woll glowingly said of Hildeby on Thursday.
“I see him in practice every day and he doesn’t let in a shot. It’s pretty awesome to see. He has the talent. He has the mental capacity for it. Just sometimes results don’t go the way you want and I’ve had plenty of experience with that and I have no doubt he’s going to be great for us in the future.”
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There is a lengthy list of differences between the NHL and AHL. For one, the speed changes drastically when you go up from the AHL. The shots in the NHL are harder and faster. It’s more structured.
Woll learned early on that the transition to the top level would be an adjustment with a lot of turbulence.
“I may write a book about that,” Woll joked, before acknowledging a couple of differences between the two leagues. “It’s a different type of pressure, I think. You work, build your game, getting comfortable in the American League, and you move up to the NHL and it is a different animal.”
Those ups and downs, Woll says, come even when you’re playing a lot of games.
“When you’re playing a lot, it’s tough in terms of, you have to be always on and always ready. And when you’re not playing a lot, it’s tough because you don’t really get into a rhythm,” the goaltender continued.
“So it’s hard to come in and having not played for a week or two and perform, especially in games where you don’t get a lot of action, it’s hard to get into the game. Whatever situation you’re in, it’s always difficult and I think that’s something you learn to kind of embrace with this job.”
This isn’t the last time we see Hildeby in the NHL. He’s too good of a goaltender. However, Toronto may want to staple him to the AHL for the remainder of this season. Not only would that get him into games more consistently, but it would also allow Hildeby to continue growing into the goaltender he will one day be.
And in the meantime, it’ll allow the Maple Leafs to see what they have in Murray once again.
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