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Anthony Stolarz has just one Stanley Cup playoff game on his resume.
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The man who signed Stolarz to a two-year contract last summer in free agency, Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving, could not care less.
“I know everybody talks about lack of playoff experience and what’s the old line, ‘Experience is really important, unless you don’t have it,’ right?” Treliving said on Friday. “He’s just a really good goalie. Our goaltending, both goalies (including Joseph Woll), has been a strength of our team this year.
“We’ve got full confidence in both, but certainly Stolie down the stretch, both guys down the stretch, have been really good.”
About all that has to happen for Stolarz to be in net in Game 1 against the Ottawa Senators on Sunday night at Scotiabank Arena is for coach Craig Berube to an announce as much. Like the team in front of him, Stolarz was sharp as the regular season wound down, winning his last eight starts and posting a shutout in three of his final four games.
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Stolarz led NHL goalies with a .926 save percentage in 34 games in 2024-25. Had he not been sidelined by a knee issue for nearly two months, not playing between Dec. 12 and Feb. 6, he might have found himself in the Vezina Trophy conversation. The Winnipeg Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck is the clear favourite to win the Vezina after posting a .925 save percentage in 63 games and going 47-12-3 with eight shutouts.
With the Florida Panthers a year ago, Stolarz had a front-row, er, end-of-bench, seat to watch Sergei Bobrovsky help lead the Panthers to the Cup. Stolarz played 35 minutes in Game 4 of the Cup final against the Edmonton Oilers.
“He got a chance to see it firsthand last year,” Treliving said. “Yeah, the stakes are bigger and all the rest of it, but it’s the same rink and the same game in starting Sunday as he’s been through before.
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“We’ve got all the confidence in the world in him and Joe. It has been earned because they have played well.”
Senators goalie Linus Ullmark, just two years removed from winning the Vezina with the Boston Bruins, is heading into the first round with a 13-3-1 record in 17 games since March 1.
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CLARITY SHMARITY
Because the Leafs had an optional practice on Friday — 10 players took part — there was nothing in the way of indicating which of the injured players will be in the lineup for Game 1.
And Treliving was not about to clear anything up.
“We’ll see,” Treliving said. “We’ll see come Game 1.”
The group includes defencemen Jake McCabe and Oliver Ekman-Larsson and centre David Kampf, each recovering from an upper-body injury. Forward Max Pacioretty (undisclosed) and defenceman Jani Hakanpaa (knee) also are itching to get back.
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All five were on the ice on Friday. So was winger Ryan Reaves, who was recalled from the Toronto Marlies. Reaves has not played for the Leafs since March 2 and seemingly would be in tough to dress for a playoff game.
At Leafs practice on Saturday, line rushes and defence pairs should tell us how Berube plans to use his players in the series opener.
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BULLISH ON BRANDON
As Treliving figured would happen, Brandon Carlo has become a key part of the Leafs defence after he was acquired from the Bruins on March 7.
“He has come as advertised,” Treliving said of the 6-foot-5, 220-pound defenceman. “On the ice, he’s a big, long guy. They’re just harder to get around. He’s a sticky player.
“Always the unknown is the fit. How it’s all going to fit? And I think he has fit seamlessly. Not only just him and Morgan (Rielly as a pairing), but down the stretch, we’ve had guys out and he’s fit with different people.
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“He has become a really important player and we’ve added a really elite teammate. The people in Boston talked about how great of a guy he was. You guys have had a chance to get to know him, just a wonderful person.”
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LOOSE LEAFS
Mitch Marner finished with 56 takeaways, tied for third-most in the NHL with Montreal Canadiens rookie defenceman Lane Hutson. Marner was the only NHL forward who was in the top 10 in takeaways … This is a list John Tavares would like to no longer be a part of: Among players participating in the post-season who have not won the Cup, he has the fifth-most regular-season games at 1,184. Those with more regular-season games than Tavares and no Cup ring are St. Louis Blues defenceman Ryan Suter (1,526 games), Carolina Hurricanes defenceman Brent Burns (1,497 games), Senators forward Claude Giroux (1,263 games) and Dallas Stars forward Jamie Benn (1,192 games) … An Atlantic Division team has played in the Cup final in each of the past six years, and won the Cup three times (Florida in 2024, Tampa Bay in 2020 and 2021). Boston lost in 2019, Tampa Bay lost in 2022 and Florida lost in 2023 … We know plus-minus is not the be all and end all, but Leafs defenceman Chris Tanev — it should surprise no one — finished 13th in the NHL at plus-31 in the regular season. Tanev was sixth in blocks with 189 … Tavares was fifth in faceoff-winning percentage at 58.3%.
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