Anthony Stolarz Trade: Rangers Kicked Tires, and Toronto Should Say No

The Anthony Stolarz trade report

The New York Rangers have looked into an Anthony Stolarz trade. TSN's Darren Dreger said on the Ray & Dregs podcast on Oct. 14 that he believed the Rangers had "kicked tires" on the Maple Leafs goalie as general manager Chris Drury searches for help after losing Igor Shesterkin for the season. Dreger framed it as early exploration rather than active negotiation, and said he doubted Toronto would move Stolarz without an overpay because the Leafs like their pairing of Sergei Bobrovsky and Stolarz.

The timing gives the report an edge. The Rangers visit Scotiabank Arena on Thursday, Oct. 22, and Toronto is also hunting for a top-four defenceman. Elliotte Friedman reported on Oct. 17 that the Leafs will spend a premium asset only for a difference-maker on the blue line.

LeafsLurker's position: Stolarz should stay unless the Rangers pay in the one currency Toronto needs, a young defenceman who plays in the top four. Anything less is a step backward for a team whose crease is already thinner than it looks.

Why the Rangers are calling

Shesterkin was hurt in a 3-1 loss in Washington on Oct. 9, and the Rangers announced the next day he would miss the rest of the season. We wrote at the time that the injury added a buyer to the goalie market. That buyer has now surfaced.

New York has been leaning on Dylan Garand and Spencer Martin, an inexperienced tandem for a team built to compete. The Rangers lost 7-1 to the New Jersey Devils last week, and Garand was pulled after allowing four goals on 13 shots, according to reports of that game. Dreger described Drury as scouring the league, though without a sense of desperation.

Stolarz is not the only name tied to New York. Connor Hellebuyck's team-imposed suspension in Winnipeg ends on Oct. 23, and Buffalo has reportedly explored a three-way deal that would send Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to the Rangers. We covered that in our Hellebuyck suspension piece. Reports have also said the Rangers are reluctant to pay the full price for Hellebuyck, which is exactly why a cheaper target like Stolarz appeals to them.

What Stolarz's contract is worth to a buyer

The contract is the reason teams call. Stolarz carries a $3.75 million cap hit through 2029-30, per the LeafsLurker contracts page. He also has a modified no-trade clause with a 16-team list, so he controls part of his destination. Whether New York is on that list has not been reported.

Here is how Toronto's crease is set up right now:

For a contender without a starter, $3.75 million for a goalie who posted a .926 save percentage in 2024-25 is an attractive bet. The counterargument is his recent form. He finished last season at .893, and he is at .875 through three starts this season, including the 5-4 loss in Utah on Oct. 13.

Why Toronto should not sell cheap

The case for keeping Stolarz starts with the man ahead of him. Bobrovsky is 38 and 1-3-2 through six starts with a 3.29 goals-against average. Much of that is not his fault: Auston Matthews said after the Oct. 17 loss to the Islanders that the team had "left him out to dry" in recent starts, and Bobrovsky was not to blame on any of the three goals he allowed that night, per the Canadian Press. He reportedly became the first Leafs goalie since Vesa Toskala in 2009 to allow three or more goals in each of his first six games of a season. Results like that do not inspire confidence that he can carry 60 starts.

The depth behind them is also thin. Joseph Woll was traded to Philadelphia in June, and Dennis Hildeby went to Tampa Bay in the Nick Paul trade on July 1. Merzlikins, acquired in the Matthew Knies deal, is on long-term injured reserve. If Toronto moves Stolarz and Bobrovsky gets hurt, the next goalie up would be a player with very little NHL experience.

Then there is the replacement problem. If the Leafs trade Stolarz in October, they need another NHL goalie back, and the goalie market is the tightest it has been in years. Shesterkin's injury, the Hellebuyck standoff and several teams' early struggles have all pushed prices up. Toronto would be selling into a market where it would immediately have to buy.

The workload math

The NHL schedule is 84 games this season, two more than last year. Even a goalie at his peak rarely starts more than 60, and Bobrovsky is not at his peak. The Leafs signed him to share the crease, not to carry it, and their early usage reflects that: Bobrovsky has six decisions and Stolarz three, a split that only makes sense with two goalies Hiller trusts.

That split only works if the second goalie is a real NHL goalie. Stolarz has been one when healthy. His .875 this season is a three-start sample behind a defence that has given up rush chances in bunches, and his 2024-25 season showed what he looks like behind a structured team. Selling him at the low point of his numbers, to a team that knows it is shopping in a seller's market, is the kind of move that looks worse every week afterward.

There is also a cap point. Stolarz's $3.75 million is well below what a starter-capable goalie costs on the open market, and Toronto has to fit any defence upgrade under a $104 million cap. Swapping Stolarz for a more expensive goalie, or for a cheaper but weaker one, works against the bigger goal of adding a defenceman.

The only Stolarz deal worth making

There is one version of this that makes sense. Friedman's report says Toronto is willing to move premium pieces for a true difference-maker on defence. If New York is desperate enough to include a young, cost-controlled defenceman who can play in the top four, Stolarz plus a lesser asset for that player becomes a conversation worth having, with Toronto then finding a cheaper backup elsewhere.

Media trade pitches have already floated Rangers defencemen in Stolarz scenarios. Those are proposals, not reports, and nothing suggests the Rangers have offered a roster defenceman. Dreger's description, tire-kicking without urgency, points to a Rangers team hoping for a discount. Toronto has no reason to give one.

LeafsLurker's line: no pick-only deal, no prospect-only deal, and no deal that leaves the Leafs relying on Bobrovsky without a proven partner. A defenceman who fixes the blue line is the price. If Drury will not pay it, Stolarz stays, and Toronto keeps the goaltending insurance it built in the summer.

What's next

The Rangers' visit on Oct. 22 is the next checkpoint. If New York has not added a goalie by then, Garand or Martin will likely start at Scotiabank Arena, and the interest in Stolarz will continue. Hellebuyck's status after Oct. 23 is the bigger domino. If he lands in Buffalo and Luukkonen goes to New York, the Rangers' need for Stolarz goes away.

For Toronto, the more pressing issue is in front of the net, not in it. Stolarz is the projected starter against San Jose on Oct. 19, and a strong week would be his best argument for staying. The Leafs are 3-4-2 and near the bottom of the Atlantic standings. Trading a goalie who has been part of the solution in two of their three wins would be an odd way to fix that.