When the Toronto Maple Leafs signed veteran goalie Anthony Stolarz this past summer, the idea was he would back up youngster Joseph Woll.

However, Stolarz has come out of the gate as well as anyone in Leafs Land could’ve hoped for. His stellar shutout performance against Boston on Tuesday makes it clear: Stolarz is the Leafs’ No. 1 goalie until further notice.

With apologies to Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Stolarz has been the best Leafs acquisition of the year and one of the best-value acquisitions of any team in the past off-season.

Stolarz’s panic threshold is sky-high, and he’s possibly the most fundamentally sound Maple Leafs goalie since Ed Belfour. Stolarz has posted a 2.12 goals-against average and .928 save percentage in nine appearances this season, which place him among the top 10 goalies in each category.

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This is not to say Woll doesn’t deserve some time in net for the Maple Leafs. But as it stands, we’d argue Stolarz should be playing two of every three games for the foreseeable future. Woll can get playing time in the second half of back-to-back games, but otherwise, Stolarz has earned the starter’s job. In all but one of his five wins this season, Stolarz has allowed two goals or fewer. He’s proven he can handle a significant workload and thrive in the often-harsh spotlight of Toronto.

With a salary of only $2.5 million, he's a bargain, and his teammates look as thrilled as Leafs fans that they’ve at long last got a true difference-maker between the pipes.

Stolarz has bounced around the NHL throughout the last eight seasons, playing on the Philadelphia Flyers, Edmonton Oilers, Anaheim Ducks and Florida Panthers. After winning the Stanley Cup as a backup last season, he's found a home in Toronto if he continues to be a needle-mover as the Buds navigate the highly competitive Atlantic Division.

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