New Maple Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz reveals why he chose to sign in Toronto

After coming to terms with the fact that Ilya Samsonov was not the answer in Toronto, the Leafs let the Russian netminder walk in free agency, zeroing in on Anthony Stolarz as Joseph Woll's new tandem partner in what will likely be a net share for the Maple Leafs.

Woll's injury history may be somewhat concerning, but with the addition of Stolarz, despite the fact that he hasn't played a lot of games, the numbers seem to indicate that the Leafs' crease will he in very good hands, regardless of whether Woll remains healthy or not.

Stolarz produced some of the absolute best results in the NHL last season, which should provide Leafs Nation with some confidence regardless of who is out there between the pipes.

Stolarz told reporters on Wednesday that he believes he's one of the top goalies in the world right now, even if he hasn't been able to show it on a larger scale.

The massive 6-foot-6, 243-pound goaltender also revealed that the opportunity in Toronto really stood out to him because of the possibility of receiving more starts than he has in recent years. With the 2-year commitment at $2.5M per season, the Leafs obviously believe he can be more than just a good backup as well.

In terms of how he feels about his time in Florida, playing in behind Sergei Bobrovsky, Stolarz showed his former partner a great deal of respect, but made sure to throw a little jab out at the end as well.

Stolarz played in 27 games for the Panthers last season, sporting a 16-7-2 record to go along with a miniscule 2.03 GAA and a sparkling .925 SV%.

Source for stats: HockeyDB
Anthony Stolarz stats and bio