With Joseph Woll already out due to injury, Stolarz is already getting more starts than he expected. But he certainly knew the possibility was there.
When Anthony Stolarz hit the open market, there was one thing that the Toronto Maple Leafs presented him that stood over anything else...Opportunity.
After winning a Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers as a backup goaltender, the Edison, New Jersey native wanted to get a chance to get more starts.
With just 110 games spread over nine seasons, the Leafs presented him with a chance to get more games in a season than he had ever seen before (28 with the Anaheim Ducks in 2020-21)
"It was probably the No. 1 thing for me. You obviously play this game to play games and get out there. And obviously with this team, the talent obviously speaks for itself. So for me, it was a pretty easy decision," the 30-year-old said following But for me, it's just going out there, trying my hardest and just, like I said, put my best efforts forward every night."
Stolarz and incumbent goaltender Joseph Woll were expected to battle for starts in goal with the latter expected to star in the club's season opener. But Woll was experiencing lower-body tightness and was placed on injured reserve, shutting him down for a minimum of the first three games of the season and it's likely he'll miss the next two coming up, including Wednesday game against the Los Angeles Kings.
The Leafs signed Stolarz to a two-year, $5 million contract this summer. When Woll's been healthy, he's performed well enough that the club inked the 26-year-old to a three-year contract worth $11 million that kicks in in 2025-26.
Meanwhile, Swedish goaltending prospect Dennis Hildeby remains with the club and made his debut making 21 saves in a 4-2 win against the New Jersey Devils last week.
"You look at his poise in the net and, you know, they would get a goal and didn't even phase him, didn't rattle him," Stolarz said of Hildeby's game. "He kind of looked like a five-year veteran."
For all the talk about the inexperience in the Maple Leafs net, Stolarz, like others before him, have seen it as an opportunity. But unlike others before him, the goaltender is off to a flying start.
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