Sep. 29: Stolarz’s contract includes a 16-team no-trade clause that applies not only to the first year of his extension in 2026-27 but will retroactively apply to the last year of his current contract, giving him new protection for the 2025-26 campaign, reports David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. That list will downgrade to a 10-team NTC from 2027-29 and further to a five-team NTC in 2029-30. PuckPedia has the full cash breakdown of the deal:
2026-27: $850K base salary + $4.225MM signing bonus = $5.075MM total
2027-28: $900K base salary + $2.91MM signing bonus = $3.81MM total
2028-29: $1.07MM base salary + $2MM signing bonus = $3.07MM total
2029-30: $1.045MM base salary + $2MM signing bonus = $3.045MM total
Sep. 28: It was previously reported that Anthony Stolarz and the Toronto Maple Leafs were getting very close to an extension, and now ESPN’s Kevin Weekes and The Athletic’s Chris Johnston have reported that the two parties have come to an agreement on a four-year, $3.75MM AAV contract extension. According to Weekes, the contract is “largely signing bonus money” although no firm breakdown has been reported at this time. The Maple Leafs have now officially announced the contract.
Two days ago, it was reported that Stolarz and his camp, led by RSG Hockey’s Allain Roy, were eyeing recent contracts signed by Karel Vejmelka and Kevin Lankinen as potential comparables – deals that each carry a five-year term and an AAV of at least $4.5MM. The contract reported today isn’t quite as lucrative as those deals, although the fact that it is, per Weekes, heavy in signing bonuses does help bridge the gap.
The path to this contract has been an odd one for Stolarz, who appears to have emerged as a starting-caliber netminder at the age of 31. Five years ago, Stolarz was an AHL starter in the Anaheim Ducks organization, and he established himself as an NHL backup there. He signed with the Florida Panthers for 2023-24 to be Sergei Bobrovsky’s backup, and ended up putting forth a brilliant .925 save percentage and 2.03 goals-against average in 27 games.
That performance in Florida, which ended with Stolarz watching from the bench as the Panthers won their first-ever Stanley Cup championship, earned the netminder a two-year, $2.5MM AAV deal to join the Maple Leafs in a tandem with Joseph Woll. Although Woll started more games in 2024-25, Stolarz was the superior of the two netminders, playing to an excellent .926 save percentage and 21-8-3 record across 34 games.
While he hasn’t been tested in a heavy workload just yet, Stolarz has posted some of the league’s best numbers across the last two seasons. While it’s no easy task to sustain such brilliance across a heavier diet of starts, Stolarz certainly has the talent to do it. If he can end up taking a larger role in the crease in Toronto, perhaps playing something closer to a standard starting netminder’s number of games, he could easily provide an immense amount of surplus value to Toronto over the course of this contract.
The last time Stolarz played in more than 40 games was for the 2015-16 Lehigh Valley Phantoms – it’s been a while. So there is some risk to this contract, without question. But that level of risk is likely wholly acceptable to Toronto given Stolarz’s brilliance over the last two years, and the odds he provides them with surplus value appear to greatly outweigh the odds he underperforms this modest cap hit.
The key for the Maple Leafs will, unsurprisingly, be the playoffs: Stolarz led Toronto to a first-round victory over the Ottawa Senators, but an injury cost him the chance to compete in the second round. If he can find a way to be a reliable, go-to starter in playoff situations, this would be a home run of a contract for the Maple Leafs.
Photos courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
