Anthony Stolarz should be the Maple Leafs' starting goalie right now, full stop. Every night Jim Hiller hands the net back to Sergei Bobrovsky is a night Toronto picks comfort over evidence.
Stolarz made 26 saves in Saturday's 4-2 win over Vancouver, his third straight win in a run where he's allowed two goals or fewer each time out. Through the first stretch of the season, he's 5-1-0 with a .910 save percentage and a 2.66 GAA. Bobrovsky, across more starts, is 3-5-2 with an .885 save percentage and a 3.29 GAA. One goalie is playing well, and the other is getting bailed out by his contract.
That contract is the whole reason this is even a debate. John Chayka signed Bobrovsky to be the clear No. 1, and after a loss to Seattle he went out of his way to publicly back him anyway. It's a front office protecting its own investment decision in public. Chayka can believe in the player he signed, but believing in him and continuing to start him over a goalie who is objectively outplaying him are two different things. Only one of those should decide who's between the pipes on a given night.
RatingHiller hasn't helped his own case either. Asked about a previous start that gave the net to Stolarz over Bobrovsky, he called it "just a decision." That's the kind of answer a coach gives when the numbers are telling him something and he isn't ready to say it out loud. Playing the guy with the better save percentage and the better record just needs a coach willing to do it consistently instead of rotating back to Bobrovsky because he's the expensive one.
Bobrovsky has a track record of starting seasons slowly and heating up later, and the Atlantic Division doesn't forgive goaltending that costs you points in November because you're saving it for April. Bobrovsky has had ten outings to find his game this season and hasn't, while Stolarz has strung together a run of his own. At some point "he usually turns it around" is just an excuse.
Bobrovsky will be needed again, in a backup role. Right now the starts belong to the goalie who's actually winning hockey games for this team. Vancouver is in the middle of one of the worst stretches in the league, and Toronto still needed its goaltender to be good to close it out. He was, and the other guy, lately, hasn't been.
Hiller has the information. He just doesn't have the stomach to act on it.
