Maple Leafs trade Anthony Stolarz to the Rangers in blockbuster proposal

The Toronto Maple Leafs may need to find a new home for Anthony Stolarz and the New York Rangers are the team to make it happen with a blockbuster trade.

Goaltending for the Toronto Maple Leafs has been a mixed bag this season, as both Sergei Bobrovsky and Anthony Stolarz have been pretty average, with neither of them taking the reigns and running with the starter job, meanwhile goalies like Joseph Woll and Dennis Hildeby are doing much better.

Stolarz, 32, has a 2-1-0 record but with a 3.32 GAA and .875 SV%, meanwhile Bobrovsky, 36, has a 1-2-2 record with a 3.34 GAA and .896 SV% - not the best numbers for a combined $11M in the crease.

But goaltending has also been an issue for the New York Rangers, with the loss of Igor Shesterkin for the season, and the reliance on youngster Dylan Garand to hold down the fort. He needs some help though, because as good as he has been so far - it's a lot of pressure.

And the two can come together to make a stunning deal.

Rangers send two high-potential players to Toronto for Anthony Stolarz's helpThe team has already reportedly kicked tires on Stolarz, and with the need to add a reliable and steady veteran to help Garand, he makes sense. And with Toronto's need to add defensive help, the two have the means to put together a blockbuster deal:

Trade idea here, mostly a framework:

To NYR:
Anthony Stolarz
Toronto's 2027 2nd

To TOR
Brandon Schneider
Jacob Battaglia

Toronto gets a younger, defensive minded D to fill in for Tanev, along with a C prospect

NYR get a 2nd and a good backup to play alongside Garand

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The trade would send Stolarz and a very solid draft pick to the Rangers for Braden Schneider - a 24-year-old defenseman who instantly slots into the top-four, as well as prospect Jacob Battaglia who has been fantastic during his time in the OHL, and is only in his first pro season, and solves a need for scoring and a centre in the future.

Would Stolarz and Schneider solve their respective new teams' issues?

Stolarz has proven to be solid when he stays healthy, and if he is able to play more of a backup role to Garand this year then it could protect him enough to stay on the ice. But acquiring him comes with risk, and you're asking a lot from a goalie who has two straight years of injuries and not the best stats to accompany him.

Though for Toronto he is a little expendable with Artur Akhtyamov in the system, he could be very close to making the jump.

Schneider would give the Maple Leafs a shutdown defender in the wake of Chris Tanev's absence, while also allowing them to develop Ben Danford a bit more.

But he also doesn't solve the offensive issues they have, and as good as he is - may not be the top-four guy Toronto needs compared to Adam Fox; New York's top D-man.

If you're talking about short-term help, then absolutely. But both players don't address the deeper issues within the clubs - New York's lack of goalie depth, and Toronto's lack of offensive firepower on the blue line.

But maybe the short-term is all that matters to Toronto and New York, and they could come together and blow the lid off the NHL.

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