Anthony Stolarz explains why he signed with Leafs
The Leafs have themselves a new goaltender in town.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are going to have somewhat of a new look in net next season, as the Ilya Samsonov era officially came to a close after two years. He's now a member of the Vegas Golden Knights, meaning that the Leafs had to act quickly to find his replacement to compete for the starter's role with Joseph Woll.
They now have their man, having signed recent Stanley Cup champion Anthony Stolarz. As you know, Stolarz is just over a week removed from celebrating with the Florida Panthers after their thrilling Stanley Cup Final victory over the Edmonton Oilers.
And shortly after the deal was announced, Stolarz explained why he decided to accept the offer from the Leafs - the chance to compete for the starter's role.
"There [was] an opportunity, I felt, [in Toronto]. In Florida I knew my role as a back-up whereas here, Woller & I will be competing for starts and as a goalie, that's all you can ask for.
Only one of us can play and you want to get as many starts as you can so when my name's called I want to go in there and try to seize the opportunity. But, at the same time, when I'm not, I pride myself on being a good teammate and I'm going to support Woller and push him."
Last season while backing up Sergei Bobrovsky in Florida, Stolarz amassed a positive record of 16-7-2 with a 2.03 goals against average, .925 save percentage and a pair of shutouts.
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