If you think Anthony Stolarz is the savior to the Toronto Maple Leafs season, you're not crazy. He is the solution to all of our problems.
Maybe I'm being too optimistic right now, but I don't see a world where the Toronto Maple Leafs defense crumbles. The additions of Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Chris Tanev have been perfect, but even more impressive has been Stolarz.
There are going to be nights where Stolarz allows five goals and looks terrible, but I feel like that's going to happen less often than we think. I know it's only a five game sample, but this shouldn't be a huge surprise. Last year, on a very good Florida Panthers team, Stolarz finished with a very impressive 16-7-2 record, .925 SV% and 2.03 GAA.
Stolarz showed that he can provide legitimate No. 1 goaltender numbers when he has a solid core in front of him. I know that he only started 27 games, but thats enough to showcase his skillset and it's the reason why the Leafs coveted him so much.
Anthony Stolarz Is Awesome and Is the Answer for the Toronto Maple Leafs
Stolarz may only have 113 total games of NHL experience, but he's 30 years old. Prior to the season starting, I compared him (and Joseph Woll) to the Boston Bruins tandem of Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman with Stolarz and Ullmark being the comparable, and I think it's coming to fruition.
As stated in that article, Ullman was someone who had played just over 100 NHL games and was never given an opportunity as a starter. He had put up good numbers in the past, but was never someone you viewed as a No. 1 netminder. However, three years later, he's all of a sudden a $8.25M goaltender and the starter for the Ottawa Senators.
With a cap-hit of $2.5M AAV, Stolarz will be 32-years-old when he becomes a UFA and if he keeps this up, he'll garner Ullmark money. Ullmark, just turned 31-years-old and $33M on a four-year contract, with similar NHL experience, so if Stolarz can keep his stats up for two seasons, he'll cash in heavy as well.
I don't think his 1.83 GAA and .938 SV% will continue, but there's no reason to believe that his stats won't be top-10 or top-15 in the NHL, which is all the Leafs need. Sure, we'd love to have a top-three goaltender, but the Leafs can still be a Stanley Cup contender with average or above average goaltending.
Stolarz deserves the net for the majority of the season at this point, but at the same time, the team can't play him for 60 games. I think he should start a maximum of 50 games so that he's healthy for a playoff run.
Hopefully Joseph Woll can return and the two can make each other even better and start a goaltender controversy, but in my opinion, it's Stolarz net to lose.
I haven't said this too often but kudos to GM Brad Treliving on this signing. Stolarz is exactly what this team needed when Woll went down and let's hope this isn't a flash-in-the-pan because he seems like the real deal.