The Toronto Maple Leafs are nearing a four-year contract extension with goaltender Anthony Stolarz, according to multiple reports. NHL insider Kevin Weeks reported the four-year contract offer on the table.
Per Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman, Stolarz could be paid around $4 million per season when pen hits paper. Stolarz currently has one year left on the two-year deal with a $2.5 million cap hit he signed with Toronto in 2024 after backing up Sergei Bobrovsky on the Stanley Cup-winning Florida Panthers.
The contract would begin at the start of the 2026-27 season and last until the end of the 2030-31 season if an agreement is reached.
Stolarz shined in his first year in Toronto. He went 21-8-3 in 33 starts, boasting a .926 save percentage, a 2.14 goals-against average and four shutouts in the regular season. He led the Maple Leafs to a playoff series victory over the Ottawa Senators, going 4-2 with a .901 save percentage and a 2.19 goals-against average in the playoffs, before getting knocked of the series in Game 1 of Round 2 against the Panthers with a concussion after a head-on collision with Sam Bennett.
He played his best hockey when it mattered the most, stopping 21 of 23 shots (.913 save percentage) in Toronto's series-clinching Game 6 victory over Ottawa.
The 31-year-old netminder got on Toronto's radar in 2023-24 after boasting one of the best save percentages in the league with Florida in 2023-24. He went 16-7-2 with a .925 save percentage, a 2.03 goals-against average and two shutouts in 24 starts that year.
Stolarz had spent the bulk of his career as a backup goaltender, bouncing around the league between the Philadelphia Flyers, Edmonton Oilers and Anaheim Ducks. He found himself in dire straights in his final season in Anaheim, going 5-6-0 with a .899 save percentage and a 3.73 goals-against average, but the Panthers gave him a chance behind Bobrovsky and he took it and ran with it.
He has since solidified himself into a tandem role with Joseph Woll and could have a home in that exact situation for the next four years. However, Woll is currently on a leave of absence, and Toronto just signed veteran goalie James Reinder to a professional tryout.
