In recent weeks, there had been some heavy debate on who the starting goaltender for the Toronto Maple Leafs should be. With both Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll each performing at their best in forming a strong tandem for the Maple Leafs throughout the season, it would seem that either player would be just as deserving to get that honour.
For Stolarz, the Toronto Maple Leafs originally made him one of their key offseason signings to serve as the supposedly incumbent backup to Woll.
However, the 31-year-old veteran has surprised everyone, including the Leafs brass, by playing like a No. 1 goaltender all season. Despite missing a chunk of the year due to a knee injury, Stolarz has still made 30 appearances, posting an impressive 17-8-3 record with a tidy 2.34 GAA and .920 save percentage.
As for Woll, the Leafs made him a longer-term commitment in the organization by re-signing him to a three-year, $10.98 million contract extension this past offseason. In response to it, the 26-year-old goaltender has also put up a solid 2024-25 campaign to date, compiling a 25-13-1 along with a 2.78 GAA and .906 save percentage over 39 games played. Similar to Stolarz, Woll has missed some time as well, mainly at the beginning of the regular season due to a lower-body injury.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have (more or less) said who will start in 1st round
But as close as the race may be between the two goalies for the playoff starting role, the Maple Leafs may have already decided who that candidate is without officially announcing it. In fact, if we actually take a look at the pattern of starts for both goalies in the past few weeks, Toronto could inadvertently be hinting at the winner of that battle already.
Over the years in the NHL, most teams traditionally reserve their No. 1 goalies to play in the most meaningful matchups and face the toughest competition. Taking that into the equation, since Stolarz’s return to the lineup in early February, he has played in 13 games, with nine of those opponents being playoff-bound or in a current battle for a playoff spot.
On the other hand, during that same time frame, Woll has seen 11 games of action and only TWO of those games have been against playoff-bound opponents in the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche. On top of that, when it came to the most important games of the season, which was against the Florida Panthers in the Leafs battle for the division title, it was Stolarz who got the call for both games.
In addition, how did they end up performing during that stretch? Woll, facing the lesser opponents, went 7-3-1 with a 3.11 GAA and .898 save percentage. Whereas for Stolarz, carrying the heavier load and tougher opponents, amassed a similar 8-3-1 record, but with a more promising and convincing 2.58 GAA and .911 save percentage in the process. (All stats from NHL.com and hockey-reference.com and salaries from Puckpedia.com)
So yes, both goalies have shown to be big-time players over the course of the 2024-25 NHL season. But if the recent trend in playing time and the results generated is any indication who the Maple Leafs will likely have as their No. 1 starting goaltender for the upcoming playoff run, then that player should be Stolarz.