After years of service as an NHL backup goaltender, Anthony Stolarz's play earned him the starting job during his first season as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs. A mid-season lower-body injury and a concussion suffered during the playoffs stalled the momentum of a career-best season.
Stolarz enters the 2025-26 season with the opportunity to entrench himself as the Leafs' number-one goaltender and prove that he can handle an increased workload. A repeat of his debut year in Toronto and Stolarz would be on the short list of the league's top netminders.
The 31-year-old's health and performance will be a deciding factor in the team's success this season, especially with partner Joseph Woll's personal leave of absence and questions about when he will be available.
The stakes are high, and for Stolarz, it's a chance to seize the Maple Leafs' starting role, prove that he deserves to be mentioned with the league's best at the position, and that the Leafs are getting full value on the new contract he signed.
Debut season with Leafs career-best for Stolarz
Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving took a low-risk gamble on free-agent Stolarz in July of 2024. He signed the career-backup to a two-year deal for $5 million, coming off a solid season with the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.
The move paid immediate dividends as Stolarz and Woll gave the Maple Leafs arguably the top goaltending tandem in the NHL. Both entered the 2024-25 season with questions about their health. They responded by alternating the top job and becoming the first pair of Leafs' goalies to record twenty victories in the same year.
Stolarz played in a career-high thirty-four games for Toronto, establishing a personal-best twenty-one wins and four shutouts. He led NHL goalies with a .926 save percentage. His 2.14 goals-against-average was third-best in the league.
Those numbers, and his stellar play over the second half of the season after returning from injury, resulted in Leafs' coach Craig Berube giving him the nod as the team's starting goaltender for the playoffs.
His solid, not spectacular, play helped the Maple Leafs to a first-round victory over the Ottawa Senators in six games. Then, disaster struck. An errant (intentional?) elbow from former Panthers' teammate Sam Bennett during Game 1 of the Leafs' second-round series against Florida changed the complexion of that series.
Stolarz later admitted he suffered a concussion and only returned as Woll's backup for Game 7. While Woll was not at fault for the Leafs' series loss, it's worth pondering if the outcome might have been different if Toronto had a healthy Stolarz.
Leafs' Stolarz could be among NHL's elite this season
The challenges are multiple for Stolarz heading into the 2025-26 season. First and foremost, staying healthy. While playing thirty-four games last year was a new benchmark for Stolarz, that number is nowhere near the fifty-plus appearances of the league's top goaltenders.
At minimum, the Maple Leafs' expected number-one netminder must start between forty-five and fifty-five games to be considered among the NHL's best at the position. Connor Hellebuyck, Sergei Bobrovsky, and Andrei Vasilevskiy routinely surpass that games-played benchmark and provide season-to-season consistency in their play.
Stolarz playing over fifty games is likely unrealistic. The Maple Leafs will monitor his health. They won't overuse him during the regular season to keep him fresh and ready to go for the playoffs. Secondly, as long as Woll eventually returns and continues his role in the partnership, the two goaltenders can push each other to the Leafs' benefit. Veteran James Reimer, a recent addition via professional tryout, or farmhand Dennis Hildeby, are also capable of playing a handful of games, if necessary.
Health permitting, expect Stolarz to play around forty to forty-five games. Do that, coupled with similar numbers to his first season in Toronto, and the Maple Leafs will be ecstatic.
For Anthony Stolarz, the 2025-26 season represents a chance to continue his upward trajectory and shape the rest of his career. With health and consistent play, he has an opportunity to not only solidify himself as the Maple Leafs' go-to option in net but also join the game's elite goaltenders.
Toronto's hopes for a deep playoff run may hinge on his ability to rise to the moment. One way or another, the 2025-26 season promises to be a defining one for Stolarz.