Maple Leafs make an early-morning roster move as Anthony Stolarz's return starts to feel real
Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
The Toronto Maple Leafs made an early move on Tuesday as they assigned Anthony Stolarz to the Toronto Marlies for a conditioning stint as he nears his return.
It was a disappointing 6-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Monday night however the Maple Leafs do have something very big to look forward to.
According to Nick Barden of The Hockey News, the Maple Leafs are going to be assigning goaltender Anthony Stolarz to the Toronto Marlies (AHL) as part of a conditioning stint as he looks to make he return shortly:
It's a huge step towards him coming back for the Maple Leafs and would be the first time he saw game action since going down with his injury on Nov. 11.
Stolarz this year has posted a 6-5-1 record with a 3.51 GAA and .884 SV%.
Anthony Stolarz can give Toronto much needed boost in net
If the Maple Leafs are confident that Stolarz is able to come back shortly, that's going to give Joseph Woll and Dennis Hildeby a lot of relief.
They've been solid but you can tell they are getting a bit overwhelmed and Stolarz's appearance again would life their morale on and off the ice.
According to the goaltender himself, the issue was a nerve issue that's been keeping him away which was something he acknowledged was more of a 'wait and heal' situation as opposed to getting a procedure done.
There is really no guarantee that Stolarz will come back and be that force he was last season but if it was that nerve issue preventing him from putting in a full effort earlier on; perhaps things will be different.
Take it with a grain of salt though. Stolarz's injury history isn't too kind to him, and the team needs to be careful to spread out his starts so they don't begin to overwhelm him once again and be right back at square one.
But the main focus right now is that Anthony Stolarz is nearly back for the Maple Leafs and it couldn't come at a better time.
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| POLL | ||
JANVIER 20|621 ANSWERS Maple Leafs make an early-morning roster move as Anthony Stolarz's return starts to feel real Will Anthony Stolarz return to the Maple Leafs before the end of January? | ||
| Yes | 340 | 54.8 % |
| No | 281 | 45.2 % |
| List of polls | ||