During the 2024-25 AHL season, one of the Toronto Marlies’ biggest strengths was their goaltending. Leaguewide, they placed 8th in goals against with 197, and all three of their starting goalies had a SV% above .900. Now that their standout best goaltender, Matt Murray, has departed for the NHL’s Seattle Kraken, the Marlies have questions in net and a handful of candidates who could step up to take on that new starter role. Murray played 21 games for the Marlies last season and ended up with a save percentage of .934 and a goals-against average of 1.72, the best in the league.
Following Murray’s departure, the Marlies signed Ken Appleby from the Charlotte Checkers. Appleby is a 30-year-old goalie from North Bay, Ontario, who has a .903 SV% and a 2.68 GAA in 143 career AHL games, although he performed very well last season with the Checkers and achieved a career-low 1.96 GAA, just second in the league after Murray.
Another regular Marlies starter, Dennis Hildeby, remains unsigned. Hildeby is a 24-year-old and a restricted free agent – while the Marlies already have three goalies under contract, it’s reasonable to assume that Hildeby will return for the 2025-26 season. Let’s break down each of these goalies and how they could perform this upcoming season.
Ken Appleby
Ken Appleby was born April 10, 1995, and played junior hockey for the Oshawa Generals of the OHL, where he won a Memorial Cup in 2015 as their starting goaltender. Following that season, he earned himself an AHL contract with the Albany Devils (currently known as the Utica Comets) and has played since, regularly finding himself starting in both the AHL and the ECHL. During his 11 professional seasons, he has played 143 AHL games, 153 ECHL games, and 4 NHL games, 3 with the New Jersey Devils and 1 with the New York Islanders.
Last year, he played entirely with the Charlotte Checkers, and his numbers were excellent in limited playing time. After Matt Murray’s departure, he is the oldest goaltender in the Marlies’ organization by several years and should be a stable veteran presence in the room as the younger goalies develop. He will not be a number-one starter, but he’s likely to fill in for several games – the Marlies had three goaltenders start roughly equivalent amounts of games last season, and he may take one of those roles.
Artur Akhtyamov
Artur Akhtyamov was born on October 31, 2001, in Kazan, Russia, and was playing in Kazan in the VHL and MHL when the Toronto Maple Leafs drafted him in the fourth round of the 2020 draft. Last season was his first year in North America, where he platooned with Hildeby and Murray on the Marlies, playing 26 games and earning himself a 2.81 GAA and a .901 SV%.
While these numbers were the worst of the three, Akhtyamov is only 22 and is expected to grow a lot as a goaltender over the next few years. He’s not an especially tall goalie, but his skills and mental game make him a qualified and exciting prospect. He’s signed to an entry-level NHL contract, which is due to expire at the end of the 2025-26 season, which means he’s on a contract year and has even more to strive for.
Given the marginal possibility that Hildeby is not re-signed, Akhtyamov is the likely candidate for Marlies’ main starting goaltender – this might be throwing him into the deep end, but he’s already shown that he’s a capable player with a lot of upside, and it will be interesting to see if he can rise to the occasion.
Vyacheslav Peksa
Vyacheslav Peksa (also known as Slava Peksa) was born August 27, 2002, in Magnitogorsk, Russia, and was drafted by the Maple Leafs in the sixth round of the 2021 NHL draft. He’s a little bit larger than Akhtyamov, but his youth and draft pedigree mean he doesn’t have quite the same results or trajectory. Unlike Akhtyamov, however, Peksa has already spent two full years playing professional hockey in North America – he spent his first season with the now-defunct Newfoundland Growlers of the ECHL, and the 2024-25 season primarily as the Cincinnati Cyclones’ starter, with two games as a Toronto Marlie. In his two AHL games, he has an .878 save percentage and only one decision, a loss. His ECHL career is a little more positive on his eventual upside, with an .898 save percentage and a 3.06 GAA
Peksa’s middling numbers don’t flatter him enough – he’s a very, very young goaltender who’s already shockingly experienced for his age. If he develops even a little bit this season, he should have minimal issue dominating the ECHL and playing competent AHL minutes as a backup or third-string goaltender, even if he doesn’t get the leeway and the starts that the other goalies on this list might.
Dennis Hildeby
Dennis Hildeby is both the surest bet and the biggest wildcard on this list. Born on August 19, 2001, in Jarfalla, Sweden, Hildeby has already proven himself an extremely capable AHL goaltender – capable enough to have earned several NHL callups during his short time in North America. In three years with the Marlies, including a lacklustre rookie year, he has played his way to a .909 save percentage and a 2.53 goals-against average.
He is also a restricted free agent this year and has not yet signed a contract. His entry-level contract with the Maple Leafs expired this offseason, and he has yet to re-sign.
Conclusion
Hildeby’s contract decision remains the most important part of deciding who the Marlies’ main starter is going to be – the spot has his name already penciled in it given his tenure on the team and proven results. Akhtyamov and Appleby are competing for second place, and Peksa for third. The AHL season is a long one, and injury or callups might force any players to play an extended period of time as a tandem; the Marlies’ youth in net disguises their goaltending depth and proven ability to develop prospective goaltenders.
ITR 47: Then There Was Nothing – Inside The Rink
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