NHL: Edmonton Oilers at Toronto Maple Leafs (image credit: IMAGN)

Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz has been sidelined for over a month with a knee injury that he suffered on Dec. 12 against the Anaheim Ducks.

Stolarz left that game after the first period and was initially labeled day-to-day. The following week, Leafs general manager Brad Treliving announced that he had surgery to remove a loose body from his knee and gave a four-to-six-week timeline.

Now in the middle of the timeline, questions are being asked about Stolarz’s potential return to the ice. During Monday’s episode of “First Up,” TSN hockey insider Darren Dreger shared what he heard about the Leafs netminder’s status.

“Well, what you’d always say is no different than any other player here,” Dreger said. “This one is a little bit unique because he has the procedure for the knee. But, you know, the first step is always getting back on the ice and just testing the leg and seeing how it feels, and then kind of slowly working your way back. As soon as he can get into practice rotation, then that tells you that he is really close to making a return.

“The messaging that I was given, and don’t etch this in stone by any stretch of the imagination again (as) this is my prep for last week’s game, was that everyone was hopeful that he’d be playing in a game at some point late January, but they wouldn’t be overly concerned if it wasn’t until early February. So that sounds like a bump of good news by (Craig) Berube. It’s at least a couple of good, heavy practices before you come back into the mix.”

Stolarz’s practice participation in the days and weeks ahead will be telling in terms of a potential return to game action, as per Dreger.

Anthony Stolarz was playing at a Vezina Trophy level

After signing a two-year $5 million contract in the offseason, Anthony Stolarz had an excellent start to his Maple Leafs career. In his first 17 starts, Stolarz went 9-5-2 with a 2.15 goals-against average, a .927 save percentage and one shutout.

These strong numbers had him atop the league in save percentage and second in goals-against-average behind only Connor Hellebuyck. While Joseph Woll has filled in nicely in Stolarz’s absence, the Leafs will hope to see their goaltending tandem fully healthy soon.

The Maple Leafs will continue life without Stolarz on Tuesday when they host the Dallas Stars. The puck drops at 7 p.m. EST at Scotiabank Arena.