It was announced yesterday that Anthony Stolarz will miss 4-6 weeks due to a knee injury.
“TSN
Brad Treliving update on Leafs G Anthony Stolarz: MRI came back and revealed no structural damage. He will go undergo a procedure to remove a loose body within his knee. He explains that it looks like a “little pebble.” Timeline of 4-6 weeks.“
One of the most concerning things is that Stolarz has had trouble with his knee before, as it kept him out for long stints over a couple of different seasons earlier in his career.
One of the other concerning things is that Joseph Woll, who is now expected to get the majority of starts until Stolarz gets back is also prone to injury. It feels as if the fears we all held during the summer are coming to fruition, as the team is one injury away from running a Matt Murray/Dennis Hildeby tandem.
Lastly, playing Hildeby this often in the NHL has to be concerning from an organizational point of view, as the team was forced to play him in a back-to-back set this weekend, will likely be in the same situation this weekend coming and again the weekend after that AND the weekend after that. In other words, Stolarz went down for a minimum of 4 weeks on the cusp of the team having back-to-back sets 4 weekends in a row. The timing is less than ideal, to say the least.
Now for some good news.
This weekend’s set of games is against the Buffalo Sabres and New York Islanders. Both teams are having down seasons so far and Hildeby just played the Sabres and won 5-3. It wasn’t a great game for him but he received some runway from his forward group and showed some comfort by way of attempting to score on an empty net. I feel that if he were nervous he wouldn’t have thought to go for a goal, but maybe that’s reading too much into it. The following weekend they’ll face the Detroit Red Wings and Washington Capitals. While the Leafs just lost to Detroit last week by way of a 4-2 score, they, too, are having a less than stellar season so far. The final back-to-back before Stolarz’s estimated return features the Minnesota Wild and Boston Bruins. This represents the toughest pair, on paper, so we’ll have to hope that Hildeby settled in by then and plays the way he was playing last season.
All of this is assuming that Hildeby is the goalie that stays throughout Stolarz’s absence as well. Matt Murray was also injured last week and Artur Akhtyamov has too few games in North America (just 11) at this point in his career, which is why Hildeby was recalled in the first place. However, Akhtyamov has had a terrific start this season and Murray, who is easily the most experienced goaltender in the organization, is expected to be back tonight for the Toronto Marlies. After Murray gets a game underneath him the team may well decide to return Hildeby to the AHL out of fear of hampering his development and recall Murray to backup Woll going forward. With a 2.15GAA and 0.919SV%, Murray’s numbers in the minors are solid, which could make this the wisest direction for the club.
Which brings us to our next item in the “good news” column. The Leafs have depth at the goaltending position for the first time in a very long time. They have a veteran goalie with Stanley Cup winning experience and a set of solid prospects in the minors and I feel as though they would all relish a shot in goal at the NHL level right now. The crease has been crowded for the Marlies, which is a great problem to have. So, while the top-of-the-league goaltending that the Leafs have been receiving might take a step back for a few weeks, it’s not as dire a situation as some would have you believe if they can stay healthy throughout.