Maple Leafs Make Sudden Goalie Move Involving Dennis Hildeby
Photo credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images
The Toronto Maple Leafs have assigned Dennis Hildeby back to the AHL after calling him up on an emergency basis to cover for a resting Anthony Stolarz.
Saturday night saw the Maple Leafs have a much different goalie tandem with Cayden Primeau starting and Dennis Hildeby backing him up only hours after being recalled to the team.
But just as soon as he was brought up, he was sent back down as the team announced Hildeby was back with the Marlies on Saturday.
Hildeby's presence was simply a safety measure in case of an injury or struggles to Primeau, but a solid game from him led to Hildeby on the bench all night.
Though the Marlies will love to have him back, as he has been brilliant with a 2-0-0 record and a blistering 0.97 GAA and .962 SV%.
Why the Move Was Simply About Giving Anthony Stolarz a Breather
But as much as Hildeby could be effective for the team in time, this was solely intended to make sure Anthony Stolarz doesn't fall apart. He would have been starting his eighth game out of nine and was clearly banged up.
Seen after Friday's game with both knees being iced, Stolarz was feeling the effects of shouldering the entire workload, and while some fans were a bit frustrated that he's unable to handle that type of stress; there's history here.
We know that Stolarz has dealt with both a concussion and multiple knee injuries in the past, and making sure that he is able to rest adequately is key to stopping yet another Maple Leaf from going down.
Plus, it looks like he needs a few days to reset. While he rightfully called out his team for not doing enough, you could tell that each possession Toronto wasted, or spent a minute in their own zone was weighing on Stolarz.
He snapped when he was charged into by Mason Marchment, so compounding how bad things have been and how banged up he is; there's a chance he very well could have dished out some more aggression.
2025 has not been too kind to Stolarz so far, with a 2-4-1 record with a 3.31 GAA and .885 SV% which is a stark contrast from his year last season where he was arguably one of the league's best when healthy.
With Joseph Woll's return on the horizon, and Stolarz set to take the reins again, Dennis Hildeby has to be sent back, but he shouldn't feel too hard about it; he'll definitely get his chance again this season.
TRENDING NOW
