Can Stolarz steal the Leafs’ starter’s gig over Bobrovsky?

The Toronto Maple Leafs, led by new general manager John Chayka, made their big move this summer when they signed two-time Stanley Cup-winning goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky to a lucrative three-year contract with a salary cap hit of $7 million.

Just over a month into the season, the Leafs own a respectable 8-6-2 record, but it doesn’t have much to do with Bobrovsky, who owns a .885 save percentage to go with his 3-5-2 record. Instead, it’s been Anthony Stolarz, another veteran, but one who was already in-house, carrying the load.

Stolarz has put up numbers far exceeding NHL average, posting a .910 SV% on his way to a 5-1-0 record bolstered by three consecutive wins in which he’s allowed exactly two goals while stopping 36, 30 and 26 shots from the opposing teams.

On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed whether or not Stolarz will end up as Toronto’s number one as the season continues to evolve.

Tyler Yaremchuk: The Toronto Maple Leafs are back in action tonight, and goaltending is a big, big part of the conversation right now in Toronto. And surprisingly, it is going to be Sergey Bobrovsky getting the start tonight. I’m going to ask you this or that: who gets more starts by the end of the season, Sergey Bobrovsky or Anthony Stolarz?

Carter Hutton: I still think it’s going to be Bobrovsky, because—like, so my concern in this situation is you’re trying to close the gap, you want to get Bobrovski going and into a point where he’s a difference maker, but you have a goalie who’s fragile in the sense of Anthony Stolarz’s injury history. So I think Bobrovsky will be the guy at the end of the day, even if his numbers don’t really take off and thrust into the .900s. He’ll end up playing more games, because I think he has had good performances. It’s just a matter of trying to figure out where you can go when you have a good 1A, 1B option. So I still think at the end of the day, if they’re trying to win a Stanley Cup, they’re really trying to see what Bobrovsky can do and trying to make sure Anthony Stolarz stays healthy.

Tyler Yaremchuk: I get the sense that’s how a lot of Leafs fans would probably feel right now as well as Bobrovsky continues to struggle. I just don’t—like, even tonight against Utah, that’s a spooky Utah offense here that you’re staring down the barrel of not going with the guy who’s playing the best. I feel like it’s a little bit of a misstep. But I agree with you that they’re clearly, at some point, going to prioritize getting Bob going, and I could see him at the end of the year having—you know, I think it’ll be close.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode below…