The Toronto Maple Leafs are aiming to tie down the next few years of their goaltending in a couple swift moves and next on the schedule is to get Anthony Stolarz to sign on the dotted line.
Just hours after the team locked up young netminder Dennis Hildeby for three years at almost nothing, reports have now surfaced that the Maple Leafs are starting conversations with the 31-year-old Stolarz about a contract extension. According to The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta, these conversations were not held at all this summer but now that more and more players are returning to Toronto before training camp ramps up, the talks have begun.
"In Toronto, after going the summer without negotiating, sources tell me the Maple Leafs have now started contract extension discussions with goaltender Anthony Stolarz," wrote Pagnotta.
Stolarz is set to be an unrestricted free agent next summer as his two-year, $5-million contract he signed with the Maple Leafs last summer, expires.
If a deal gets done shortly -- or even within the next month or so -- with a couple, potentially shrewd moves, the Leafs would cement their goaltending for the present and the future within that time. Stolarz is for the here and now, and is clearly the best option for Toronto in between the pipes. After leading the entire NHL in save percentage for the second year in a row and having a reliable enough backup in Joseph Woll for Stolarz to not have to be a workhorse starter, some might say he's one of the better options around the NHL.
All of that will of course be taken into consideration during these contract discussions. Stolarz is outstanding when he's in the crease but having just played a career-high of 34 games in a season, he shouldn't warrant a massive financial commitment. Even if he extends himself to starting half a season's worth of games, Stolarz's new contract would only be somewhere in the range of Logan Thompson's new deal, which carries a $5.85 million cap hit for five years.
We'll have to see where these discussions go but there is clear motivation to get something done and not have the Leafs rely too heavily on Woll and Hildeby as a future tandem.