Little note: Stolarz played on the London Knights with Domi and Marner.
Leafs sign goalie Anthony Stolarz [2 years, $2.5mil AAV]
- Thread starter CarltonTheBear
- Start date
Pretty good job of the Leafs to keep this to two years. One of the reasons I wasn't too keen on Stolarz or Brossoit at first (aside from the latter's other stuff) was I thought for sure both of them would be getting 3-year contracts. That would have conflicted with when Hildeby loses his waiver exemption (26/27 season). A 2-year deal now means that lines up with Stolarz's contract expiring, pretty clearing paving the way for Hildeby to potentially earn a full time NHL spot that season. If he proves capable of it in the next 2 years of course.
Highlander
Active member
What is Brossoit's other stuff?CarltonTheBear said:
Guru Tugginmypuddah
Well-known member
Highlander said:
His goalie mask is lined with tinfoil.
WhatIfGodWasALeaf
Active member
L K said:
ARE YOU SAYING THE WATER ISNT MAKING THE FROGS GAY?
I looked Stolarz over.
Read scouting reports.
Heard/saw interviews.
Looked at video
Looked at stats.
I still find the goalie position over the last 20 years or so in the NHL to be the most confounding to predict. It seems to have migrated from the top perennial Vezina stars to goaltending by committee and going with the hot one. Having said that:
I liked his demeanor in the interviews. Very laid back with all the lights on upstairs.
He's the biggest goalie in the league but he moves pretty well.
Over the last 4-5 years, Stolarz is in the top 10 in save% in the NHL (includes 3-4 years in Anaheim).
As a backup, (playing ~ 25GP each of the last 3 years):
He was about ~10 save% points and about 0.5 GAA better than Gibson during his 4 years in Anaheim.
He was about ~10 save% points and about 0.3 GAA better than Bobrovsky during his year in FL.
If you look at Samsonov, Campbell & Mrazek stats over that time, he blows them all away.
If he's a backup, he's a serious & significant upgrade. I think Woll, if he stays healthy, has a real battle on his hands.
Read scouting reports.
Heard/saw interviews.
Looked at video
Looked at stats.
I still find the goalie position over the last 20 years or so in the NHL to be the most confounding to predict. It seems to have migrated from the top perennial Vezina stars to goaltending by committee and going with the hot one. Having said that:
I liked his demeanor in the interviews. Very laid back with all the lights on upstairs.
He's the biggest goalie in the league but he moves pretty well.
Over the last 4-5 years, Stolarz is in the top 10 in save% in the NHL (includes 3-4 years in Anaheim).
As a backup, (playing ~ 25GP each of the last 3 years):
He was about ~10 save% points and about 0.5 GAA better than Gibson during his 4 years in Anaheim.
He was about ~10 save% points and about 0.3 GAA better than Bobrovsky during his year in FL.
If you look at Samsonov, Campbell & Mrazek stats over that time, he blows them all away.
If he's a backup, he's a serious & significant upgrade. I think Woll, if he stays healthy, has a real battle on his hands.
Zee
Well-known member
cw said:
Insomuch as we don't know crap about goalies like you said, Leafs MAY have just found a hidden gem here. I hope it all works out, a goalie battle between Woll and Stolarz would be great to see. Have that doubt over who should start like Boston did with Ullmark and Swayman.
Arn
Well-known member
It?s one of the quirks that still kind of amazes me.
A skater plays shifts between say 12-25 minutes of a 60 minute game on average. So they get little mental (and physical) breaks.
A goalie has to be out there for 60 minutes and basically mentally tuned in the whole time.
And then teams have tended to play one of them for 75% plus of the games.
(In some of the European leagues the number 1 goalie plays over 90% of the games).
I know we?ve shifted a little more toward sharing it between 2 goalies on a lot of teams but I?m amazed that we haven?t moved more towards something like baseball pitching rotation with goalies where you have 3 NHL level goalies getting a more even share of the starts.
I?m sure there?s arguments for and against this.
A skater plays shifts between say 12-25 minutes of a 60 minute game on average. So they get little mental (and physical) breaks.
A goalie has to be out there for 60 minutes and basically mentally tuned in the whole time.
And then teams have tended to play one of them for 75% plus of the games.
(In some of the European leagues the number 1 goalie plays over 90% of the games).
I know we?ve shifted a little more toward sharing it between 2 goalies on a lot of teams but I?m amazed that we haven?t moved more towards something like baseball pitching rotation with goalies where you have 3 NHL level goalies getting a more even share of the starts.
I?m sure there?s arguments for and against this.
Guru Tugginmypuddah
Well-known member
Hopefully Stolarz can add some sort of stability in net.
Leafs played like a different team when Samsonov was in net compared to Woll. With Woll in net, their play reminded me of the Cujo years when the team would play more of a run and gun style. The team on the overall played with more confidence with Woll in net. Contrasted to when Samsonov was in net, they seemed more cautious. Soon as a goal or two went in on Samsonov, they seemed deflated.
Leafs played like a different team when Samsonov was in net compared to Woll. With Woll in net, their play reminded me of the Cujo years when the team would play more of a run and gun style. The team on the overall played with more confidence with Woll in net. Contrasted to when Samsonov was in net, they seemed more cautious. Soon as a goal or two went in on Samsonov, they seemed deflated.
L K
Well-known member
I think the biggest thing for me is that Stolarz plays more than Woll than Samsonov. I think the Leafs just play better with a goalie who makes good positional decision making. When Sammy was playing at his best, he could stop anything but mostly stayed between the posts. The second something went wrong though he would be scrambly and it's hard to defend when your goalie can't stay in the crease. It's easier to defend when you know your goaltender is able to make the save as long as you give him a sight line.
herman
Well-known member
Arn said:
In addition to Deebo's comment about not enough quality players; goalies get paid for their production, which is games played and won, so there's probably very little appetite from the players themselves to join triumvirates, vs the traditional starter/backup or tandem pair. But I understand the sentiment!
It might even be harder to effective backups to remain dialed in. Steve Valiquette (NYR media, Clear Sight Analytics, Royal Road guy) said he took up the practice of 'making saves' with the starter while on the bench as he watched the game -- going through the movements and save selections, so if he was ever called into action, he'd be mentally warmed up.
Rob said:
Remember when Cujo arrived? They could run and gun their brains out because Cujo could out duel the other goalie. Worked well until the physical Sabres clutched and grabbed, etc.
I also think they played differently with Samsonov. They had to be more careful. Matthews & Nylander were hurt in the playoffs and they put Tavares & Marner out to check Pastrnak's line. Media howls "the core 5 didn't score as much!!" Well no kidding, aside from injuries, they had a checking assignment and more d-zone starts ... to help protect Samsonov.
bustaheims
Well-known member
The biggest question re: Stolarz is how he'll hold up to what will almost certainly be a career high in starts by a fairly wide margin (at least, at the NHL level). His current high is 24 - this past season - and it's a pretty significant jump from that total to the 35-40 he'll be expected to handle this year.
Arn
Well-known member
bustaheims said:
Yeah, this was kind of what got me thinking about the rotation thing and I appreciate Deebo and Herman?s replies.
Imagine if it worked out something like
Woll 38 starts
Stolarz 30 starts
Murray 14 starts
Obviously your plan for Murray?s starts is against the lesser teams. You probably split Stolarz and Woll over back to backs etc.
Then you go into the playoffs and your goalies are relatively fresh and have (hopefully) 3 good options to turn to.
I'm a sucker for a big goalie, and Stolarz is quite literally the biggest one in the NHL right now. There was a good article in the Athletic recently on him and just about how injuries early in his career really made it difficult to establish a proper technique. It wasn't until he got to Anaheim a few years ago that he was really able to start playing like how a goalie of his size should play. Even at 30 I think it's somewhat reasonable to say there's some untapped potential for him in a platoon role. And his floor shouldn't be that low either.