A welcome development emerges in Anthony Stolarz's recovery

Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz has struggled to stay healthy this year. Going down over a month ago, he's been off the ice ever since and there have been genuine concerns about whether he can return this season or not.

While the team is getting some fantastic goaltending out of Joseph Woll and Dennis Hildeby right now, there's always a boost to the lineup when Stolarz is healthy and able to give the team every chance to win the game -- there's a reason the team signed him to a four-year extension.

But he needs to get on the ice in order to really do anything for the team, and with no timeline as to his return it feels like we might not see him until the end of the season.

Though we may be much closer to a Stolarz return than we think.

According to sources, the Maple Leafs told reporters that Anthony Stolarz was skating on Wednesday; the first time since he left on Nov. 11.

There's still no timeline as to when he will actually come back to play but the fact he's even on the ice before the new year is a huge step forward. Even if he is out until the Olympic break; if he can skate now, then he should be strong enough come the end of February.

For now, the team is going to rely on Woll and Hildeby unless Brad Treliving decides to make a trade for another goalie, and Stolarz should feel comfortable knowing he's at least got some good backups keeping the team afloat.

Stolarz, 31, has a 6-5-1 record with a 3.51 GAA and .884 SV%; he's struggled heavily this season and he very well could have been dealing with an injury prior to him going down and decided to tough it out.

But the fact remains he is nowhere near coming back to game action and the team is going to have to weather any storms that cross their path. However, if we see more of Stolarz on the ice in the coming weeks, he could be back to right the ship before we know it.