Anthony Stolarz’s future with the Maple Leafs immediately became Chayka’s most urgent question on the roster

Sunday came with the announcement that John Chayka and Mats Sundin were hired to transform the Maple Leafs and bring back not only a competitive team, but one proud to wear the blue and white.

Their hirings are going to come with a lot of questions, but one of the most important is how they are going to construct the roster for the 2026-27 season. Craig Berube is sticking around as head coach so it's best if they decided to bring in guys who best fit his style.

One name who should be worried about his future though is Anthony Stolarz. Not necessarily abad goalie, his health concerns and extension are going to cause more issues than Toronto needs and it's dead weight if he can only stay healthy for 15 games of the season.

Stolarz only posted a 10-10-3 record with a 3.28 GAA and .893 SV%; a far cry from the 21-8-3 record he posted lat year to go along with a 2.14 GAA and .926 SV%.

With a lot of questions about whether or not he's still a fit for this team, there's an obvious answer to Toronto's problems just waiting for a chance — Dennis Hildeby.

Although he hasn't been a show-stopper the likes of Jesper Wallstedt, Hildeby is still someone who has proven that he can hang in the NHL, and is ready for his chance to break out. The fact he's the same size as Stolarz helps a ton, and being seven years his junior is a massive leg-up.

Hildeby posted a 5-7-4 record however it came with a 2.86 GAA and .912 SV% — pretty decent numbers considering he was thrust into the spotlight pretty quickly.

With several NHL teams looking to stabilize their goaltending situation, adding Stolarz on a fairly cheap deal is a great way to do it; even with the injury concerns. If a team wants to use him more as a reliable and steady second option to prevent overworking him then they could come out with a steal.

That only strengthens the case to not only get rid of Stolarz, because not only is there interest but you're going to likely get back a decent package of assets for him too.

Finding a suitor for Stolarz won't really be hard considering there are teams like Philadelphia and New Jersey who would love to add that level of netminding to their club, and both can offer a solid return for Toronto.

In Philly's case, they could offer Toronto a young forward like Philip Tommasino or Karsen Dorwart — the latter linked to the Maple Leafs previously. Both would give Toronto a solid young asset to complement the other future stars and start the youth movement early.

New Jersey could potentially give up Dougie Hamilton in a package for Stolarz, though there would need to be some salary retention if Toronto can't find an out for Morgan Rielly, but instead of that they could offer the signing rights to Simon Nemec.

Nemec is a young offensive defender who is looking for a big pay day, and with questions about his role with the Devils, his name has popped up in several trade rumours.

Chayka has a chance to add either a young forward to help complement the future pieces, or he can target a offensive defenceman and finally give Auston Matthews and the Maple Leafs the puck-mover they desperately need.

If I were Anthony Stolarz, I'd keep my luggage bags at the ready, because it might not be long before he's headed to a new home.

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