The Toronto Maple Leafs got bad injury news on star goalie Anthony Stolarz.
Stolarz got injured during Toronto’s 5-3 road loss to the Boston Bruins on Nov. 11. It was ruled a lower-body injury, but it wasn’t considered serious.
However, Stolarz has yet to return to the ice, and on Thursday, Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube revealed it’s worse than expected.
“Worse than we thought,” Berube said. “He’s not ready to get on the ice yet and do the things he has needed to do. Hopefully it’s soon. I really don’t have a timetable for him. Maybe tomorrow he’ll be on the ice. I’m not sure.”
Stolarz had been Toronto’s starting goalie with Joseph Woll away from the team, but the two were expected to form a tandem. However, the injury news is not good as there is no timetable for his return.
He’s in the final year of his two-year, $5 million deal, but he has already inked a four-year, $15 million extension, which begins next season. Prior to the injury, Stolarz was 6-5-1 with a 3.51 GAA and a .884 SV%.
Maple Leafs GM Hoping Stolarz Gets Healthy
Stolarz was one of the top goalies last season, but he has been injury-prone in his career.
Last season, Stolarz was knocked out of the playoffs due to a concussion. Although Toronto hasn’t said what the injury is, Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving is hopeful that Stolarz gets healthy quickly.
“Anthony had a real strong start,” Treliving said on Tuesday. “I think the workload caught up to him. He’d be the first to tell you, his game dropped a little bit. I think it’s tied a little bit into the number of starts he had, right?
“Our hope is that we get Anthony healthy. Got all the faith in the world in Anthony. Glad to see Joe back there. They’re a big part of our team, the tandem together and how they play off each other.”
With Stolarz out, Woll has taken over the net as he returned from his personal leave. Woll is 1-1 with a 2.44 GAA and a .934 SV% in his first two starts of the season.
Woll is expected to start for the Maple Leafs when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.
Toronto Gets Positive Injury Update on Matthews
Although Berube gave a bad injury update on Stolarz, the Maple Leafs did get a positive one on Matthews.
Matthews took part in the morning skate on Thursday, and Berube said it’s a good sign that he was out there and shooting the puck.
“It’s good to see him out there with us,” Berube said. “Just talking to him, he’s feeling a lot better and I thought he was shooting the puck a lot better, so that’s a good sign.”
Although Matthews was out there, he’s still unlikely to play on Thursday or Saturday due to the injury. Instead, the Maple Leafs forward lines are projected as follows for Thursday’s home game:
- William Nylander-John Tavares-Calle Jarnkrok
- Bobby McMann-Max Domi-Nick Robertson
- Easton Cowan-Scott Laughton-Steven Lorentz
- Dakota Joshua-Jacob Quillan-Matias Maccelli
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