The Toronto Maple Leafs will have a new goaltending tandem for next season with the addition of Sergei Bobrovsky. How will the Leafs utilize both netminders?
The Toronto Maple Leafs will have a new-look goaltending tandem next season, thanks to a busy off-season for the franchise and GM John Chayka.
One of the highlights of July 1's free agency day was the Maple Leafs acquiring goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. They inked one of the most expensive contracts of the day, signing the Russian netminder to a three-year deal worth $7 million against the salary cap per season.
It was an enticing addition for many reasons.
Bobrovsky is a 37-year-old goaltender in the latter stages of his NHL career, which has already lasted for 16 years and over 800 regular-season games. He is a future Hall of Famer, with two Stanley Cups, two Vezina Trophies and is seventh on the NHL's all-time list in wins for a goaltender with 456.
With that, Bobrovsky is coming off the single worst campaign of his NHL career. He posted a .877 save percentage and a 3.07 goals-against average this past year with the Florida Panthers. Aside from 2025-26, the lowest SP that the veteran recorded in his career was his sophomore year in the league with the Philadelphia Flyers in 2011-12, in which he only featured in 20 games.
Therefore, it should be interesting to see how the Maple Leafs and their brand-new coaching staff handle the goaltenders, considering Bobrovsky's legendary career but recent regression in performance.
Well, along with all the aspects that Bobrovsky brings to the team, he'll be reuniting with Anthony Stolarz, who completes the Leafs' tandem for next season.
They were both members of the Panthers in 2023-24, with Stolarz as Bobrovsky's backup. The duo went on to win a Stanley Cup together, the first of Florida's back-to-back titles.
To measure how many games Bobrovsky and Stolarz will play next season, that campaign is a good way to start, even if it was over two years ago.
In that 2023-24 regular season, Bobrovsky made 58 starts for the Panthers, while Stolarz started in 24 contests, totalling to the 82-game campaign.
Stolarz has had his fair share of injuries, and with that, he's never played more than 34 games in a year. In fact, the most appearances he made in a season were in his first year with the Maple Leafs in 2024-25. That was also his best year in the NHL in terms of his .926 SP, four shutouts, and reaching 33 starts.
But with Bobrovsky coming in, Stolarz's time on the ice doesn't compare. And even as a 37-year-old, Bobrovsky could be expected to play over 50 games for Toronto in 2026-27.
It may seem unprecedented to have Bobrovsky that much responsibility in the crease at his age and this past year's performance, but that is his standard and what he has accomplished for the last several years.
In nine of the past 10 years, Bobrovsky has not featured in fewer than 50 games in a season. And the one campaign that he didn't reach 50 games was the 2020-21 shortened season due to COVID-19; he made 31 appearances.
Ultimately, between Stolarz's injury history and not carrying a heavy load at any point in his NHL career, on top of Bobrovsky's experience as a winner and elite goaltender, not only will Bobrovsky see the majority of the action, he could very well mark the 12th season in which he reached 50 or more games in a campaign.
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