The contracts
Toronto Maple Leafs sign defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson to a four-year deal with a $3.5-million cap hit and goaltender Anthony Stolarz to a two-year deal with a $2.5-million cap hit.
Toronto never has had any trouble scoring goals. Now, preventing them? That’s been a different story. The Maple Leafs gave up 3.18 goals per game last season, more than half a goal per game worse than the league’s elite. And Toronto finally seems to be addressing that issue. First came the signing of Chris Tanev, one of the top defensive defensemen in the game. Then the Leafs bolstered their depth at defense with the resurgent Oliver Ekman-Larsson and got some sorely needed goaltending insurance in the vastly underrated Anthony Stolarz. It’s a pair of moves that makes the Maple Leafs a deeper and more well-rounded team, which, after years of being one-dimensional (and usually one-and-done in the playoffs), is a welcome sight for weary Leafs fans.
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Ekman-Larsson is the bigger name, but let’s start with Stolarz. For one thing, he’s absolutely massive at 6 feet 6 inches, 243 pounds. He’s also quite good. As a career backup with a history of getting injured, he’s never played more than 28 games in an NHL season with the Flyers, Oilers, Ducks and Panthers, but he’s put up good numbers every step of the way.
Sergei Bobrovsky was a Vezina Trophy finalist this season, but Stolarz actually outplayed him during the regular season, with 21.7 goals saved above expected in just 27 games. That was seventh-best in the league in roughly half the games of those ahead of him. It was no fluke, either. This was the fifth straight season that Stolarz had a positive GSAx — only four other goalies can claim that, and they’re no slouches: Connor Hellebuyck, Igor Shesterkin, Juuse Saros and Semyon Varlamov.
Not only can Stolarz back up Joseph Woll, who was just signed to a three-year extension with a $3.66 million cap hit, he can compete for the starting job with him. At the very least, it could be a relatively even split, so we’ll get a chance to see just how good Stolarz can be in a larger role (or if he’ll be exposed in the process).
A year ago, Ekman-Larsson’s career was at its nadir, bought out by the Vancouver Canucks after a career-low 22-point season and a minus-22 goal differential at five-on-five, by far the worst of his career. But like so many before him (think Brandon Montour and Sam Bennett and Gustav Forsling and Carter Verhaeghe), Ekman-Larsson was rejuvenated with the Florida Panthers, who signed him to a cheap one-year contract in the wake of the buyout.
Not only did Ekman-Larsson have his best offensive season since 2018-19, with nine goals and 23 assists, but he put up the best shot-attempt share (56.14 percent) and expected-goals share (54.33 percent) of his career. He can capably run a second power-play unit and remains a reliable defender in his own end. He’ll likely never be the 25-minute-a-game stalwart he was in his heyday with the Coyotes, but he doesn’t need to be in Toronto, now that Tanev is there to play on the top pairing alongside Morgan Rielly.
With so many hard miles on his body, it’s certainly possible that Ekman-Larsson won’t match the contract’s value by the third or fourth year, but at just $3.5 million a year, it’s not a big risk. And having a player who just played a big role in a Stanley Cup run can only be a good thing for the perennial playoff disappointment.
The Leafs aren’t a perfect team after Monday’s moves, but they’re certainly a better one.
Ekman-Larsson contract grade: B+
Stolarz contract grade: A
Fit grade: A-
(Photo of Oliver Ekman-Larsson: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
