Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz is ready to return to NHL action. He’s missed the last 30 games, out since November 11. On Friday, he finally revealed what’s been ailing him, referring to it as a “nerve issue.” But that’s all we’re going to get from him, as the Leafs continue their infamous approach of keeping players’ health issues ‘in the vault.’
“I had to kind of let it settle down a little bit,” Stolarz said. “It’s not like a bruise where it goes away. It was just something that I just kind of had to let heal on its own. And, you know, it just took a little while.”
The big question now, and it’s a great problem to have, is how does the team deal with a three-goalie situation? Joseph Woll and rookie Dennis Hildeby were both excellent in Stolarz’s absence. The crease is getting a little crowded now.
Of course, the Leafs wouldn’t be the only team to go with a three-goalie system. But for a club looking to improve at the deadline with a scarcity of tradeable assets, will they deal from their one real area of strength, and dangle one of the netminders to try to land that extra piece on the blueline that GM Brad Treliving has been looking for?
The opinions from pundits around town run the gamut. Yes, no, and everything in between.
Insiders want Leafs to hang on to 3-goalie depth
Insider Chris Johnston said on TSN’s Overdrive that he doesn’t believe the Leafs should part with one of them. He describes the risk involved.
I don’t think this is an area the Leafs have to do anything this year at all. And the biggest reason I lean on that, is we just haven’t seen, between Woll and Stolarz, that they give you enough confidence that one of them is going to be healthy for a long period of time.
I think the Leafs are a team, like an increasing number around the NHL, that think they need to have three goalies that they have some degree of faith in, because they have had so many injuries at that position… So I think for the time being, you ride it out with the three guys.
Hildeby, it should be noted, does not have to clear waivers to be sent back to the Marlies in the AHL if necessary, to keep him busy.
Darren Dreger added, “Maybe it’s too much of a luxury to consider waiting until the offseason… But I don’t think that they do consider a trade, unless (another team) blows their doors off between now and March 6.”
Former NHL goalie makes argument for trading a goalie
Martin Biron, who played goal for 16 seasons in the NHL, is taking the opposite stance. He said this week on TSN that the Leafs should be dealing from a position of strength.
Absolutely, they should (look to trade one of the three). And they should start looking right now. Because there’s other teams that have a three-goalie crease, and they’re going to get in on the action…
I get it, the injuries are a bit of a concern for the Leafs with Woll and with Stolarz, but I do believe you have to be proactive. This team needs to look ahead and say, ‘How can we maximize our return, and how can we do it before other teams look to (do it)?’
The Montreal Canadiens, Buffalo Sabres, and even the Edmonton Oilers have a three-goalie situation, and Biron feels the Leafs “need to get a jump on the competition.”
He also figures that they should capitalize on Hildeby’s red-hot start to his career (putting aside his most recent loss in Utah). Hildeby carries a .909 Sv% in his 17 appearances this season. Woll has performed like a true No. 1, with a .912 Sv%, and an 11-4-3 mark.
Whenever Stolarz actually returns to game action, which might not be until the end of January after he gets a few more practices in, he’ll look to improve on his disappointing start to the 2025-26 season. He posted a 6-5-1 record in 13 appearances, with an .884 save percentage. Last year, Stolarz led the NHL in Sv% at .926 in his 34 games.
