Although it was never announced publicly, it became clear when we learned that Anthony Stolarz would start Thursday night against the Anaheim Ducks: He has become the Maple Leafs’ 1A goalie, if the playoffs were about to start, this is the guy they would turn to first. I don’t think fans will complain about this decision either. He performed very well.
This transformation is so gradual that most people don’t notice it happening.
Entering the new season, almost everyone is not thinking this way. Joseph Wall was outstanding for the Maple Leafs last season and was outstanding in the playoffs, but missed Game 7 against the Boston Bruins due to injury. Wall will begin his three-year, $11 million contract next season, which will make him the higher-paid of the two goaltenders, as well as the youngest of the two and the team’s top pick in the draft. The one who invested the most. When the season began, Wall was considered 1A.
The crazy thing about transitioning into the first crease for Stolarz is how good Wall has been this season. He got off to a slow start after returning from injury (not unusual), but is now back to a .921 save percentage, which ranks fourth in the NHL. Wall ranks seventh in the NHL in goals saved above expected (according to MoneyPuck), one spot behind Stolarz. Wall has become a consensus 1B despite entering the season as a top-10 goalie in goaltending statistics for the Maple Leafs.
That’s not to say the switch is unreasonable, as Stolarz is sorting out the Vezina battle through 16 starts. Ranking sixth in goals saved above expectations is nice, but ranking first in the entire NHL in save percentage exceeds the Maple Leafs’ expectations.
As we all know, Stolarz pulled off a stunt against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, stopping 38 shots in Toronto’s 2-1 victory. He’s on a tear, so you can understand why the Maple Leafs wanted to have him back in net on Thursday.
The real Kuyper and Byrne
Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne talk all things hockey with some of the biggest names in hockey. Watch live every weekday from 4-6pm ET on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ or listen live on Sportsnet 590 The FAN.
full episodes
Thursday afternoon on Real Kyper and Bourne, I laid out why returning Stolarz doesn’t make sense: The Maple Leafs have played 12 straight games in 22 days, and neither goaltender has the experience of handling a true NHL starter. There’s a lot of work to do and both are batting well, so they should be alternating the crease non-stop. There’s still a lot of games ahead, so both men can move on. No need to think too much.
Even with this initial stance, I don’t blame the Maple Leafs for Stolarz’s injury. Wall is also injury-prone and could get hurt if he plays. Or, Wall might not play well and people will question the decision to give up the “hot hand.” When I made my point, I wasn’t even suggesting that Stolarz might be injured, I was just saying that breaking up the rotation didn’t make sense given the schedule situation and the quality of play the team was getting from both netminders.
Still, Keper has a good counterargument to why they might return Stolarz, which goes beyond a simple “he played well on Tuesday” theory. Kuyper said the Maple Leafs may already be figuring out something playoff-related: Let’s see if he can do it back to back when he’s white hot, keep the heat on and do it again. Stolarz’s ability to handle the workload is one of the few things that remains untested, so this could be the type of answer Toronto wants.
Not that they want him to leave the game injured.
It was probably nothing, just a blip, and Stolarz was fine. But it could also develop into some legitimate bad news and something the Maple Leafs need to address.
If so, even bad news can have a silver lining.
Maybe after seeing Stolarz get injured in a string of true starting workloads, they knew this wasn’t something he could handle. We don’t know exactly what injury he suffered, but his right knee did wobble after Frank Vatrano’s goal. This is where he has suffered some physical difficulties in the past, to the point where some believe his career has been threatened in the past.
If in fact Stolarz’s knee is bothering him – which is probably the worst-case scenario – at least it gives the Maple Leafs some chance to find a solution.
I’m not necessarily referring to other goaltenders, but they do need to find out if Wall can handle a heavier workload. Just as important, the Maple Leafs may need to move from “we have good organizational depth in net” to committing that depth to enough NHL games that they will be ready when the need arises in the postseason.
The Maple Leafs like Dennis Hilderby so much that he has been called up. They might prefer Artur Akhtiamov, but this is his first year in North America, and while his numbers in the AHL were good, it would be a stretch for him to play more games and play in the minors. It may be better to develop further in the human philtrum.
At any time, this could go from “we like what we have behind our main roster” to “we need one of those guys on the third line for 20 games this season.”
All in all, the Maple Leafs are in a good position in net. Stolarz is currently listed as a daily service, so this may not be a big deal. They have organizational depth. On top of that, they have Wall, who has proven that when he’s on the floor, he can be as good as anyone in the league. This is not panic button time.
But the Maple Leafs entered the season with a goaltending corps that ranked among the bottom five teams on payroll for one simple reason: They lacked experience. Neither player has played 30 games in a season, so they don’t need huge money. You can only make good money if you prove that you can handle the workload and perform well.
Sometimes, when you save a lot of money up front, it can come at a cost later.
Will the leaf creases be okay? This is a firm “maybe.” But they’ll know a lot about what they’re really getting there when they enter a busy period in the schedule before February’s Four Nations break.
The Maple Leafs are structured differently than they have been in the past and can win. But to do that, they need to come up with a positive answer to the currently uncertain goalkeeping issues. Oddly enough, these questions aren’t primarily about the quality of the games, but about how many of them they can get.
