The Toronto Maple Leafs have a big goaltending decision to make in two weeks.
When you look at the Toronto Maple Leafs salary cap construction right now, it's pretty amazing that the team pays Max Domi more money than both of their goalies. For only $3.26M, Toronto has been able to get 39 wins out of Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll, which is very impressive.
However, when you look at both Stolarz and Woll, who do you trust more in the playoffs? You could argue that Stolarz has an upper-hand because he has a Stanley Cup ring, but at the same time, he only played 34 minutes during that championship run and was essentially a cheerleader.
As for Woll, he technically has more playoff experience and has played very well during those games, but he's never healthy. He sparked the Leafs and helped force them to a Game 7 after being down 3-1 in the series to the Boston Bruins last year, but then couldn't play Game 7, which is super annoying.
Let's break it down quickly and look at both goalies stats, as it currently stands:
Anthony Stolarz: 15-8-3 record, 2.40 GAA, .917 SV% (8-2-2 when allowing 30 or more shots)
Joseph Woll: 24-13-1 record, 2.80 GAA, .905 SV% (13-2-1 when allowing 30 or more shots)
You're probably wondering why I added a statistic when allowing 30 or more shots, but it's simple. In the playoffs, you need your goaltender to steal you multiple games during a long-run and it's important to see how they perform when the rest of the team is giving up a lot of shots.
Joseph Woll Should Be Game 1 Starter
As you can see, both goaltender's have a solid record when they allow 30 or more shots, but Woll has the better win percentage. Not only does he have a better percentage when the team allows 30 or more shots, but he has a better percentage overall.
Thier overall statistics are important, but it's probably just going to come down to who's playing the best in this last two-week stretch, and unfortunately they're both underperforming. In the month of March, Stolarz has a 2.97 GAA and .882 SV%, while Woll has a 3.64 GAA and .888 SV% so you can't really make a clear decision at this point.
As much as Stolarz is probably the better goaltender indivdually this year, I think the Leafs still need to give the nod to Woll and here's why. The Leafs may only have a 3-2 playoff record with Woll, but in both situations, you could argue that if he played all seven games in 2023 and 2024, the Leafs would have won every series they played.
I know there's some worries about his health, but you have to cross that bridge when you get there and that's why the team signed Stolarz in the first place. This 1A/1B situation is all good in the regular season, but when the playoffs start, you need a stud who can take you to the finish line and Woll has shown enough in his seven previous playoff games that he should start Game 1. If he falls apart in that opening game, then turn it back to Stolarz, but the team should run with Woll as long as they can.
In those seven playoff games, Woll has a 1.78 GAA and .933 SV%, which is elite. Not only that, but the core of this team has seen him perform at a high-level in the playoffs before, so I think there is a little more trust in him, then Stolarz potentially.
The last 10 games will probably determine everything, but at this current stage, based on his experience and ability to win almost every game he plays where he faces more than 30 shots, I think the Leafs need to turn to the Brick-Woll when Game 1 starts.