Joseph Woll’s return to the net for the Toronto Maple Leafs this week couldn’t have come at a better time. Top netminder Anthony Stolarz has been out since Nov. 11 and has missed the team’s last three contests. Now we’re learning that he’s not close to returning.
Head coach Craig Berube revealed today that the upper-body injury suffered by Stolarz is “worse than we thought.” The goalie hasn’t even resumed skating yet, said Berube. “He’s not ready to get on the ice yet and do the things he has needed to do. Hopefully it’s soon. I really don’t have a timetable for him. Maybe tomorrow he’ll be on the ice. I’m not sure.”
Stolarz re-upped with the Leafs during the preseason on a four-year, $15 million extension. But his second season with the club has not gone the way anybody had hoped. After leading the league in save percentage in 2024-25 with a .926 mark, Stolarz has faced underperformance and injury troubles this year.
No timetable for a Stolarz return for Leafs
The nine-year veteran is 6-5-1 with a 3.51 goals against average and an .884 save percentage. Additionally, he was embroiled in a bit of controversy back in October when he called out his teammates for a lack of effort.
Stolarz was removed from the Nov. 11th game against the Boston Bruins after the first period, seemingly due to a poor outing that saw him give up three goals on 11 shots. But it was later revealed by Berube that Stolarz had suffered an injury.
Meanwhile, Woll’s return has been just what the doctor ordered for the Leafs between the pipes. He’s registered a .934 Sv% in his two starts with a 2.44 GAA. He’s expected to start his third straight game on Thursday night when the Buds face the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Leafs must tread carefully with injury-prone goalies
The one thing that Toronto needs to be wary of, however, is not to face the same situation they did with Stolarz, which is overplaying the injury-prone netminder, and potentially leading to injury. With Woll on a personal leave for the first month, Stolarz took on a much heavier workload than he ever had before in his career to start this season, and the results, as noted above, were not good.
“I think the workload caught up to him,” GM Brad Treliving admitted. “I think that he’d be the first to tell you, his game dropped a little bit… It’s tied a little bit into the number of starts he had, right?”
Stolarz started eight of the team’s first 10 games, and 13 of the first 17.
Woll has also spent his fair share of time on injured reserve, and the team needs to tread lightly here. He just returned this week after taking time off for a private personal family matter.
The tandem essentially split the gig last year, with Woll getting 41 starts and Stolarz 33 (due to a two-month absence with a knee injury). The situation allowed both to perform well, and the sooner they can have both back healthy, the better for everyone.
