Can Anthony Stolarz finally stay healthy this season? It’s a question on the minds of many Toronto Maple Leafs fans, especially after last season’s ups and downs. Stolarz's first season with the Maple Leafs started off red hot, putting him in early Vezina Trophy conversations, but it all got derailed when he was sidelined for six weeks to have a loose body—about the size of a pebble—removed from his knee.
Then there was the concussion he suffered in Game 1 of the Leafs’ second-round series with the Florida Panthers at the hands of former teammate Sam Bennett.
Entering his second season with Toronto, Stolarz has been working hard this offseason to make sure that doesn't happen again. The 31-year-old recently spoke on the
Toronto Sports Rush podcast with host EJ Hradek about the training he’s putting in to try and avoid injuries in 2025-26.
“The biggest thing this summer that I've kind of been focusing on is just trying to get as much cardio and strength I can in my body,” Stolarz said. He added that the adversity of his past injuries has made him a stronger person mentally. “It's not ideal, but I think at the end of the day it's made me a stronger person mentally just to be able to overcome that adversity.”
Despite the injuries, Stolarz posted a career-high 34 games with a 21-8-0 record and a .926 save percentage in 2024-25. Had he not had the knee injury, he was on pace to get more starts over fellow goaltender Joseph Woll.
In his ninth NHL season, he's shown he's capable of more and says his journey of resilience has helped shape the battle that has become evident in the goaltender. “Five, six years ago people were counting me out, and you know, maybe I was counting myself out at that time,” Stolarz said. “Just being able to overcome that and being in the position that I am now, I’m extremely grateful for that.”
As far as the concussion goes, the good news for Stolarz is he didn't black out and had a full recollection of the incident noting the biggest thing for him in the moment was just dealing with the nausea. Stolarz was seen vomiting on the bench in Game 1 before being removed from the game.
Toronto's goaltending hasn't been this stable from a statistical level for a long time. But if Stolarz is going to complete his journey to being a reliable goaltender, breaking the 50-start mark and staying injury-free for the upcoming season would be the final piece of that puzzle in the player's journey to become a true No. 1 option.
Latest stories:
William Nylander Says Mitch Marner Never Considered Leaving Maple Leafs During 2024-25 Campaign
Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews Provides Health Update Before New Season