There are myriad reasons why the Toronto Maple Leafs keep on failing to get anywhere in the Stanley Cup playoffs each spring, and goaltending is right near the top of the list.
Or, to be more accurate, lack of reliable goaltending.
Over the past eight seasons, Toronto has been a playoff ever present. However, just once in those eight springs have the Leafs advanced beyond Round 1 of the postseason. And there's been six different netminders who've made a postseason appearance in the Toronto net over that eight-year run of disappointment.
Dennis Hildeby wasn't one of them. Yet there's hope in Leaf land that he might be the long-term solution to this problem.
The 23-year-old Swedish netminder made his NHL debut on Oct. 10. stopping 23 shots in a 4-2 road victory over the New Jersey Devils.
"I have dreamed of this since I was eight years old and started playing hockey," Hildeby told Per Bjurman of Swedish website Aftonbladet. "So it was really a dream come true and it's a sick feeling."
A towering presence between the pipes at 6-foot-7 and 224 pounds, the Leafs made Hildeby the 122nd overall selection of the 2022 NHL entry draft. He played his first full season in North America in 2023-24. Playing 43 games for the AHL Toronto Marlies, Hildeby went 22-11-7 with a 2.41 GAA, .913 save percentage and four shutouts.
A late bloomer who wasn't drafted until he turned 20, Hildeby has learned how to effectively utilize his massive frame to take away the bottom half of the net.
A injury to projected No. 1 goalie Joseph Woll opened the door to Hildeby's NHL opportunity and now that here's in the show, he planning to make the most of it.
"That's the best thing about this, that nothing in itself changes just because you play in the NHL," Hildeby explained. "I just have to keep doing the things that got me here. Then it's easy to say that in theory, but I'm happy with how I managed my mental game."