Does Anthony Stolarz have long-term starter potential for the Leafs?

In his first season in the Toronto Maple Leafs‘ crease, Anthony Stolarz has impressed. Through 32 outings, the 31-year-old New Jersey native has put together a 19-8-3 record coupled with a .922 save percentage, 2.28 goals-against average, plus a pair of shutouts.

On Thursday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton chatted about Stolarz’s play with the Maple Leafs this season and highlighted the aspects of his game that help him to perform well.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Stolarz has appeared in just over 30 games now. This is the guy who had never really taken the reins as a starter in his career. The Leafs have some faith in him, and they gave him a pretty decent contract. He delivers in putting up some great numbers. Is this a good year for Stolarz or do you think he has long-term starter potential?

Carter Hutton: I do believe this is long-term for Stolarz. My worry about him is I don’t think he ever becomes that 55-game to 60-game guy consistently. He can be a difference maker. His size and poise, we saw it last night against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He was so good. You look at that overtime, he made a few big saves. He reads the play well. What I like about Stolarz is that he communicates well with his teammates. He has that maturity. I feel like he’s going to take on this challenge. When you look at the East, there are going to be some big head-to-head matchups for him. We talk about Linus Ullmark possibly in the first round, and then from there you’re going to have Andrei Vasilevskiy and Sergei Bobrovsky. Last night, just even getting that win and extending your leash in the sense of your confidence and where you’re at, and helping this team to get to the top of the standings, it’s so important, especially for a guy that was a career backup. He’s really flourished in a market where there is a lot of pressure, but I think he’s ready to handle it. It’s been a great signing so far for the Maple Leafs.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here: