Photo credit: Maple Leafs on X

The Toronto Maple Leafs are in Boston to take on the Bruins on Saturday, and Craig Berube has made a statement with his choice of starting goaltender for the affair.

The Leafs are not off to the hot start that many were hoping for, owners of a 4-4-0 record through their first 8 games of the season. A big reason why they were able to rack up a few wins has been the play of UFA signee Anthony Stolarz, who is currently 3-2-0 on the season.

Joseph Woll, who was believed to be viewed as the Leafs’ starting goalie ahead of the start of the 2024-25 campaign, finally made his return to the lineup on Thursday against St. Louis. Unfortunately, after losing his first start of the season and not looking overly fantastic during the game, Woll may have officially lost the number one gig following a groin injury that kept him on the sidelines for 7 games.

According to David Alter of The Hockey News, Anthony Stolarz is going through the starter’s routine in the visitor’s net in Boston, indicating that he is the projected starter tonight against the Bruins.

This is a real statement move from Craig Berube. Not only would Woll have been hungry to get back in there and extract his pound of flesh from the Bruins after the Leafs’ 1st round loss to the B’s in the playoffs, but it would have established who the clear-cut number one is in Toronto if Woll received back-to-back starts coming off of his injury. However, Stolarz drawing the nod likely indicates that the team favours him more in the starter’s role right now — and rightfully so.

Stolarz comes into tonight’s game boasting a very strong 1.83 GAA and a sparkling .938 SV% through 5 starts. That looks a whole lot better than Woll’s 4.08 GAA and .846 SV% in his only start of the campaign. Granted, Woll’s numbers will improve exponentially as he begins to warm up and get re-acquainted with his blueliners in Toronto, but for all intents and purposes, there appears to be a new number one in town for the Maple Leafs.