Anthony Stolarz proved to be the Maple Leafs’ best-value signing of the offseason

It wouldn’t be a Toronto Maple Leafs season if there weren’t any questions about the goaltending situation. It feels like every season there’s some sort of conversation surrounding their situation in net and whether it will be sustainable, and it was no different prior to the 2024-25 season. The Maple Leafs put some faith into Joseph Woll, who was signed to a three-year extension worth $3.66 million annually in the summer, and they signed former Florida Panthers backup Anthony Stolarz to complete the tandem at what now feels like an incredibly valuable $2.5 million AAV for two years.

The concern around this tandem was durability. Woll’s injury issues in the past had been well-documented, and while Stolarz’s weren’t as bad, he had never started more than 27 games in a season heading into 2024-25. Overall, it was a medium risk tandem with some sneaky high potential, and luckily for the Maple Leafs, their gamble paid off, specifically their gamble on Stolarz.

How the year went

After Joseph Woll got hurt in training camp, Stolarz was immediately called on to start their season-opener against the Montreal Canadiens. The Leafs lost 1-0, but as the score indicates, it wasn’t on Stolarz. He stopped 26 of 27 saves in the season-opener but provided fans with a presence that they could trust in net. It was more than just his play on paper, it was his demeanour. He never looked like he was mentally shaken in net, and a strong mental game is arguably the most crucial trait a goaltender could have, especially in Toronto.

With the Maple Leafs initially intending to start the season with Joseph Woll as 1A, hence penning him to start the season-opener, Stolarz all of a sudden had to take on full-time starting duties while Woll was on the mend. He went 3-2-0 with a save percentage of .938. OK, that’s good, but the question was never whether he could put together five strong starts in a row. The skill was always there, it was the durability that raised questions.

That question was tested in December when Stolarz went down with a knee injury. He had given the Maple Leafs quite literally everything they could have asked for at the time, proving that he could be a quality starting goalie whether bearing the majority of the load himself or in tandem with Woll. At the time of his injury, he had a record of 10-5-2 with a goals-against average (GAA) of 2.15 and a save percentage (SV%) of .927. These are not only dependable starting goaltender numbers, they’re pretty-well Vezina calibre.

When Stolarz returned from injury in February, he showed no signs of rust, stopping 26 of 27 shots in a 3-1 win over the Seattle Kraken and winning his first four starts following his injury. He finished the season stronger than he started it, with a new career high in games started (34) and a record of 21-8-3 complemented by a GAA of 2.14 and a SV% of .926. Quite frankly, it was the best season by a Maple Leafs goaltender in recent memory despite the low amount of games, and with Woll keeping the ship steady behind him and putting up the type of numbers some teams would take from their starter.

The playoffs are where things went south for Stolarz, and not for lack of strong play. He stood tall in Round 1 and helped the Leafs win the Battle of Ontario to advance to the second round, but not long into Game 1 of the second round against the Florida Panthers, his old team, Sam Bennett caught him with an elbow to the head and ultimately knocked him out of the series. The Leafs still managed to push it to Game 7 against the Panthers with Woll in net, but it wasn’t enough to get to the Conference Final for the first time in the Auston Matthews era. The “what if” regarding Stolarz‘s health in Round 2 will hang, but in the end, it was an exceptional year for the first-time Maple Leaf and yields lots of confidence for the 2025-26 season.

Statistical Profile

All statistics via Moneypuck (min. 25 GP) and Natural Stat Trick (min. 1380)

To put it simply, the Leafs have not gotten a goaltender performance like this one in recent memory. All of the advanced stats are on his side, and they paint a picture of a goaltender who routinely gave his team a chance to win when they were thriving, and bailed them out when they were struggling. He’ll be up for a raise in no time, but between Mitch Marner, John Tavares, and Matthew Knies, all the talk around contract extensions have blown past the point of fatigue, so we’ll save that conversation in another day.

Highlights

Anthony Stolarz crazy goal line save vs. Lightning