The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed goaltender former Anthony Stolarz to a two-year deal, according to NHL insider Kevin Weekes.
According to Weekes, the deal is expected to pay Stolarz just over $2 million per season. Stolarz had completed a one-year $1.1 million deal with the Florida Panthers.
NHL insider Elliotte Friedman then reported that the deal is a two-year deal worth $2.5 million per season.
Stolarz had been linked to the Maple Leafs the entire offseason along with Laurent Brossoit, but Toronto has decided on Stolarz.
Stolarz won the Stanley Cup with the Panthers this past season. This year, he went 16-7-2 with a 2.03 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage.
The 30-year-old American was drafted 45th overall in 2012 by the Philadelphia Flyers. He has played for the Flyers, Edmonton Oilers, Anaheim Ducks, and Panthers in his NHL career.
In his NHL career, Stolarz is 43-31-9 with a 2.69 GAA and a .915 SV%. He has played in just one Stanley Cup playoff game which was this year when he allowed three goals in 35 minutes.
Maple Leafs Were Focused on Goaltending
Entering the offseason, goaltending was a priority for the Maple Leafs, and they moved quickly to add a goalie.
Toronto signed Joseph Woll to a three-year contract extension, who will be their starter. But, adding a goalie to form a tandem, was a key for Toronto general manager Brad Treliving.
“As far as our goaltending, I’ve got faith in Joe. Now, like everybody else, there are questions. The biggest question with Joe is he’s gotten injured a lot. We have to dig into that. Sometimes that happens, sometimes bad luck happens. Is there a training issue that we have to deal with? Do we need to change something in his off-ice routine? All those things are what we have to dig into,” Treliving said at the year-end press conference.
“I believe in Joe as a goaltender. We have to support Joe. Ilya’s contract is up, but we certainly have to try to put ourselves in a position where we don’t have the second-best goaltender in each of these series,” Treliving added.
Woll went 2-0 with a 0.86 goals against average and a .964 save percentage in the playoffs before the injury.
Toronto Signs Chris Tanev
Before free agency opened, Tanev signed a six-year deal worth $4.5 million per season with the Maple Leafs.
Toronto acquired Tanev’s rights from the Dallas Stars and the team was able to get a deal done with the veteran defensemen.
“He’s just an elite defensive player. You know, we talk about offensive players seeing plays early. He does the same thing but on the defensive side of the puck,” Treliving said after acquiring Tanev (via LeafsNation).
“An absolute warrior. He’s a culture carrier for your room. Listen, I know the age he’s at. But I think even in the last year he showed he’s one of the top shutdown defencemen, one of the top defensive players in the league. And he’s a right shot. He embodies everything you want in a teammate.”
Following Toronto’s signings, they have just over $2 million in cap space, with only 11 forwards signed, so that money will have to go to another forward.
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