The Toronto Maple Leafs should re-sign goaltender Anthony Stolarz before they lose their leverage.
Although Anthony Stolarz is a 31-year-old goalie who has only started 142 career NHL games, he's arguably the team's best option right now when it comes to the crease. He suffered an injury last year, which resulted in him starting fewer games than Joseph Woll, but statistically he was the better player. Not only, but he was called upon as the team's No. 1 starter in the playoffs, before once again getting injured.
The injury history from last year is the biggest concern when it comes to re-signing Stolarz, but the team already has Woll, and now Dennis Hildeby, under contract for the foreseeable future as well, so they do have options if Stolarz falters. The goaltending position is the hardest position to secure in professional hockey, so as much as the team could look at Woll and Hildeby as the future, I think Stolarz is their best bet to win a championship, if healthy.
If Stolarz is healthy this season and plays 40-50 games, and the team has yet to re-sign him, he's going to ask for a huge pay-bump. Besides Sergei Bobrovsky (who I can't see playing anywhere besides Florida), the best unrestricted free agent goalies for 2026 are currently the following: Petr Mrazek, Jacob Markstrom, Freddie Andersen, Stuart Skinner, Cam Talbot and Stolarz.
No disrespect to those netminders, but that's a pretty mediocre class of free agents -- even if we don't think that Markstrom is going to re-up with New Jersey. If you're the Leafs, you might not even be better off signing one of those netminders to a pricey deal compared to keeping Stolarz, knowing that he could just be entering his prime.
Goaltenders are such an interesting bunch that you never know when their career is going to take off. Sometimes you get a player like Matt Murray who's amazing as a rookie and can lead his team to a Stanley Cup or you get the Tim Thomas version of a netminder who's best days happened in his late 30's. As a result, I wouldn't look at age or past performance when it comes to Stolarz and just look at the player that he is now.
Last year, in 34 games, he finished with a 2.14 goals against average and .926 save percentage and looked like a legitimate starter. If he can replicate that, or even be a little worse, he'd be a top-10 goalie in the league and Toronto would be setup perfectly in net.
If I'm Stolarz's agent, you want to go to free agency if you have a great season, but you also have to be a little concerned for injury and/or playing time if Woll emerges as the team's best netminder. As a result, I think a three-year extension could work perfect for both sides. The Leafs would legitimize their goalies for the next few years, then Stolarz will still be young enough for one more big contract before retirement.
Currently making $2.5 million, I'd be happy if the team doubled his salary and signed him to a three-year deal worth $15 million ($5 million AAV), and I think Stolarz would be pretty happy about that too.