The Toronto Maple Leafs’ goaltending has been all over the map, and that has opened the door to a trade idea that sends Anthony Stolarz to the New York Rangers in a deal built to help both clubs right now.
Toronto has gotten uneven results in net this season. Stolarz is 2-1-0 with a 3.32 GAA and .875 SV%, while Sergei Bobrovsky sits at 1-2-2 with a 3.34 GAA and .896 SV%.
For a combined $11M in the crease, those numbers haven’t given the Maple Leafs much certainty. At the same time, Joseph Woll and Dennis Hildeby have been playing better, which makes the situation even more complicated.
The Rangers have their own problem after losing Igor Shesterkin for the season, leaving Dylan Garand to carry a heavy load. Garand has handled things well so far, but the ask is steep, and New York clearly needs another veteran presence behind him.
That’s where the proposed deal comes in.
In the framework, Toronto would send Stolarz and its 2027 2nd-round pick to New York. In return, the Maple Leafs would land Braden Schneider and Jacob Battaglia.
The idea is simple on both sides. Toronto would get a younger, defense-first blue liner to help cover for the absence of Chris Tanev, plus a centre prospect in Battaglia. New York would add a 2nd-round pick and a goalie who could back up Garand and give the Rangers some stability in the crease.
Schneider, 24, would slide right into Toronto’s top four and give the Maple Leafs a shutdown option on the back end. Battaglia has been strong in the OHL and is in his first pro season, making him the kind of prospect who could help down the road as a scorer and a future centre.
Stolarz brings some appeal, but also some risk. He has shown he can be solid when healthy, and if he’s asked to work more as a backup behind Garand, that could help keep him available.
The problem is the injury history. He has dealt with injuries in each of the last two years, and the production has not exactly erased those concerns.
Toronto could afford to move him, at least to a degree, with Artur Akhtyamov in the system and maybe close to making the jump.
For the Maple Leafs, Schneider would patch a real hole after Tanev’s absence and also give them more time to develop Ben Danford. What he wouldn’t do is fix the bigger offensive issues on the blue line.
And that’s the larger truth in this idea. It would help both teams in the short term, but it doesn’t solve everything. New York still needs goalie depth, and Toronto still needs more scoring punch from its defense.
Even so, there’s enough fit here to make it a fascinating swing for both sides.
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Toronto does not sound ready to make a dramatic move, but the discussion around Rielly is clearly shifting from concern to decision-making. The Leafs would like a version of him that looks closer to the player they expected, yet the path to getting there may involve uncomfortable lineup adjustments or, eventually, a bigger reset. For a team that has leaned on him for so long, even the possibility of a reduced role says plenty about where things stand. [Read more 🡒]