The Case For Anthony Stolarz To Be The Maple Leafs' Playoff Starter In Net

As the end of the NHL’s 2024-25 regular season draws to a close, teams are going to decide which goalie they're going to start in the Stanley Cup playoffs. For many, if not most teams, the choice is going to be easy: Connor Hellebuyck will be starting for the Winnipeg Jets, and Sergei Bobrovsky will be the starter for the Florida Panthers. But for a few teams, the choice of a starting goalie isn’t so clear.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are one of those teams. The Leafs have had one of the league’s best netminding tandems in the form of 31-year-old Anthony Stolarz and relative youngster Joseph Woll. But in these final regular-season games, Toronto will have to go with one of the two and get them mentally and physically prepared to be their Game One starter.

From this writer’s perspective, given the way the recent past has played out, the right playoff choice for the Buds is Stolarz. THN director of digital media Michael Traikos made a compelling case for Woll to be Toronto’s starter. However, that argument was made 10 days ago, and as we should all know by now, things can change quickly in the goaltending business. And an examination of Woll’s and Stolarz’s performances shows why Stolarz should be Toronto’s starter.

Although Stolarz struggled at the start of March, he’s come around since March 20, winning three straight games to improve his season record to 16-8-3. And since the beginning of February, Stolarz has gone 7-3-1 and improved his individual numbers to a 2.35 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage – better numbers than his career averages of a 2.61 GAA and a .916 SP.

Contrast those stats with Woll’s numbers – a 2.80 GAA and a .905 SP this season and career totals including a 2.78 GAA and a .909 SP – and you’ll see why we’re arguing in favor of Stolarz, who was dynamite at the start of the season when Woll was injured. 

Woll also has struggled mightily in his past handful of games. To wit: Woll has posted a save percentage of .871 or worse in his past two appearances – against sad-sack teams in Nashville and San Jose – and in four of his past seven appearances, Woll has posted a save percentage of .871 or worse. These are not stats that inspire confidence in a netminder. And that’s why we see Stolarz as the proper choice to kick off the playoffs for Toronto.

In the Maple Leafs’ remaining nine games, they’ve got to decide on either Stolarz or Woll, and give them the bulk of the action. Toronto does have two back-to-back series of games on April 8 and April 9, and again on April 12  and April 13, so we can see Leafs coach Craig Berube splitting those games between his two goalies. Otherwise, the Buds have to give either Stolarz or Woll the majority of those games and provide a vote of confidence in one of the two. 

If Stolarz puts in a sub-par showing in Game One, Berube can always switch things up and go with Woll. And if Stolarz struggles in the last regular-season games, Berube can turn to Woll. But for now, Stolarz has shown enough solid play to make him the right choice for the Leafs at the start of the first round. He’s more experienced than Woll, and more prepared to go on a long playoff run after his time with the Panthers last season, despite seeing very limited playing time in the post-season. 

The Leafs’ depth in net is encouraging, but now they have to make the difficult decision about who will be their man between the pipes when the games matter most. And we’re confident in saying Stolarz ought to be that guy.

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