With presumed 1A goaltender Joseph Woll being placed on injured reserve Wednesday night, off-season acquisition Anthony Stolarz was called upon to take the reins in net against the Montreal Canadiens for the Toronto Maple Leafs’ opening night. After just one period of play, it was evident that he should be the team’s bona fide starter even once Woll returns from his lower-body injury.
Stolarz’s Early Dominance in 2024 Matches His Career Numbers
Despite taking the loss against the Canadiens in their opener, Stolarz’s skills were on full display — the sole reason for the Maple Leafs not taking home the victory was that the opposing netminder, Samuel Montembeault, stood on his head to the tune of a 48-save shutout. On the other end, Stolarz supplied a more than solid 26 saves on 27 shots, a .963 save percentage (SV%). He too made spectacular save after spectacular save, nearly stymying the Canadiens altogether. On the night, he ended with a plus-1.9 goals saved above expected (GSAx), according to MoneyPuck.
Related: 3 Necessary Maple Leafs Adjustments Following Win vs. Penguins
In his next appearance against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Oct. 12, the story was much of the same despite getting in the win column for the first time this season. Stolarz once again posted a stellar save percentage (.913), bringing his total for the season to .940. He saved 21 of the 23 shots that came his way, and though many were shots from undangerous areas, he finished the night just barely negative in GSAx (minus-0.22). Though not his best effort, it was an average game at worst relative to other goaltenders around the NHL.
For Stolarz, this is just par for the course. Throughout his career, he’s been relegated to backup duties mostly as a proxy of poor injury luck and playing behind some terrific goaltenders — Sergei Bobrovsky and John Gibson come to mind there. In terms of sheer skill, there are few who have matched his prowess over the last few seasons, and that’s become increasingly more apparent year after year. Last season, in 27 games, Stolarz finished second in both SV% with a .925 and goals-against average (GAA) with a 2.03, both of which trailed fellow backup Laurent Brossoit. He also finished with a plus-20.1 GSAx (third in the league) in 2023-24 and was the only goalie with fewer than 40 starts to post a GSAx of over plus-14.5. His career statistics are similarly impressive, with a SV% of .915 and a GAA of 2.67.
Woll Is Solid, Yet a Clear Second Choice
There’s no denying that Woll is a good goaltender when healthy — in 36 career games, he’s posted a SV% of .912 and a GAA of 2.76 as well as a GSAx of plus-12.9. He was the sole reason that the Maple Leafs were competitive in Round 1 of the 2024 NHL Playoffs, and has shown that he’s capable of giving above-average goaltending on a nightly basis. The problem with Woll’s presumed status is that he’s historically quite injury-prone and only has a small sample size in comparison to Stolarz’s 110 NHL games. With his start to the season being on injured reserve, that narrative can only be pushed even further.
Yes, there’s reason to assume that Woll is the goalie of the future considering the three-year, $3.66 million average annual value (AAV) contract extension that came in July and the fact that Stolarz’s contract is for fewer years and dollars. Still, Woll’s career numbers are worse than Stolarz’s despite appearing in a third of the games, and the early goings of the season lead me to believe that the latter of the two is making a real push for the 1A spot. So long as Woll is shelved with injury, the net is Stolarz’s, and there’s no real reason for that to change even once Woll returns.
