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Stolarz Trade Could Backfire Badly on the Maple Leafs

Originally posted on NHL Trade Talk | By Old Prof | Last updated Feb 14, 2026 4:14 PM ET

There’s a kind of itchy impatience around Toronto right now, the sort that shows up when a season has already slipped away, but the trade deadline hasn’t quite arrived. And as usual, the Maple Leafs have wandered into a goalie dilemma of their own making. The big question floating around: Should the Maple Leafs trade Anthony Stolarz?

It’s tempting on paper — he has value, he has term, and teams always talk themselves into goaltending this time of year. But once you actually walk through the logic, the whole idea starts to wobble.

Reasons For Trading Stolarz

You can make a case. If the Maple Leafs truly want to strip things down and restock some badly depleted draft capital, Stolarz is one of the few players with enough shine to bring back something meaningful. He’s making $3.75 million for four more years. He’s not cheap, but he’s not outrageous for a starter if he gets hot. And he’s done that before.

Last season, there were stretches where he was flat-out one of the best goaltenders in the league. If you’re a contender staring at your crease and feeling queasy, that kind of potential counts for something.

Could the Maple Leafs squeeze a first-round pick out of a desperate team? Maybe not, but a second-rounder is hardly far-fetched. And this is a season where Toronto is almost guaranteed to miss the playoffs. It would be their first miss since 2015–16. Therefore, this is the moment to prioritize the longer view.

There are players who could also bring back picks: Max Domi, Bobby McMann, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. You could even talk yourself into exploring a Morgan Rielly deal, though the contract gymnastics alone make that a bit of a crusade. If long-term thinking is the mission, then yes, Stolarz has to be on the list of pieces worth exploring.

Reasons Against Trading Stolarz

But here’s the rub: trading him would practically pull the curtain back on how fragile this situation already is. Neither Stolarz nor Joseph Woll has shown they can stay healthy for any real stretch. Dennis Hildeby hasn’t taken a single pressure-packed NHL shift. The rest of the organizational depth—Artur Akhtyamov—is unknown.

A Stolarz trade isn’t just a hockey move; it’s a white flag. It would signal that ownership has finally ceded the idea of squeezing out playoff revenue and is willing to let management reroute the roster. Maybe that’s overdue. But you don’t do it at the cost of your only goaltender with real potential to catch fire. Woll is a fine backup, a good guy to have around. But riding him for months? That’s a leap of faith this team hasn’t earned.

The Maple Leafs Should Not Trade Him

So, no, the Maple Leafs shouldn’t move Stolarz. Not now. Not when he’s the only netminder in the organization with a plausible chance of carrying a team if things ever break right again. Trading him creates more risk than reward and leaves the Maple Leafs staring at a crease made of wishful thinking.

If they want to sell, there are skaters who make far more sense to move. Stolarz isn’t one of them.

This article first appeared on NHL Trade Talk and was syndicated with permission.

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