Ryan Hardy explains why Artur Akhtyamov has played more than Joël Hildeby for Toronto in the AHL playoffs

The Toronto Marlies are set to open the AHL Calder Cup final against the Chicago Wolves with a Game 1 expected on Friday, and their path there has featured a clear storyline in the crease. While Toronto has had a strong goaltending tandem in the form of Artur Akhtyamov and Joël Hildeby, Marlies GM Ryan Hardy says the club has leaned on Akhtyamov for much of the Calder Cup playoffs, shaping how the team handled its goaltending at the highest-stakes moment of the season.

Hardy’s comments focus on what playoff goaltending management looks like inside an organization that also feeds the NHL pipeline. The Marlies are an AHL affiliate designed to develop players for Toronto, but they also have to win. According to Hardy’s explanation in the lead-up to the final, Toronto’s decision-making balanced performance, stability in key stretches, and the practical reality of how quickly rhythm can matter for a goaltender once a season turns into a series-by-series grind.

The difference between “tandem” and “starter” becomes more pronounced in the postseason. In the Marlies’ case, Hardy pointed to the fact that the staff has not treated both goalies as identical workloads. Instead, Akhtyamov has been the choice for the majority of games during the Calder Cup playoffs, even though Hildeby has remained an important part of the organization’s overall goaltending picture.

Hardy also framed the tandem decision as something tied to more than one simple metric. In a playoff run, coaching staffs often look at readiness, how each goalie responds to the timing of rest, and the day-to-day workload decisions that come with preparing for the next opponent. For Toronto, the reported emphasis on Akhtyamov’s time in net implies the coaching staff saw him as the more consistent option during the moments that required the most continuity.

At the same time, Toronto’s goaltending plan has not been built on turning one goalie into a spectator. The Marlies are not just filling a spot in a lineup, they are developing players inside a system. Hildeby’s presence alongside Akhtyamov is part of that development logic, meaning the staff could keep him engaged without necessarily asking him to start every night. That approach becomes especially relevant in the Calder Cup final, where teams adjust to opponents, and the staff must remain ready to deploy the goalie they believe gives the club its best chance to win the next game.

There is also a larger organizational context behind Hardy’s perspective. As Toronto’s assistant GM, Hardy’s role ties AHL decision-making to NHL expectations, even if the evaluation process in the minors operates differently than in the NHL. The Marlies’ playoff goaltending usage, then, can be read as a window into how Toronto views the transition from AHL success to higher-level roles: rewarding a goalie who can sustain performance under playoff pressure, while still maintaining a credible path for the other goalie to be prepared and useful.

With the final starting Friday, the immediate question is how Toronto will handle workload if the series goes long. Hardy’s explanation suggests the Marlies will continue to prioritize the goalie they believe best supports their playoff rhythm, rather than forcing an even split for its own sake. For fans and evaluators, the biggest watch item will be whether Akhtyamov’s heavy usage becomes the template for the series, or whether Hildeby’s role expands in response to Chicago’s style and game-to-game adjustments.

Ultimately, the Ryan Hardy comments place the Marlies’ goaltending decisions in a familiar playoff framework: pick the option you trust most in the moment, but keep the other player ready to go. The Calder Cup final against the Wolves will test whether Toronto’s postseason approach in net delivers the same edge it has already produced through the club’s run to this stage.