The Toronto Maple Leafs are officially in a slump right now, having lost each of their last five games. In fact, for the first time in over three decades, they’ve lost five straight games in regulation on home ice.
They’ve fallen to second-to-last place in the Atlantic Division, and the frustration of the fans is clearly mounting.
But that hasn’t stopped rookie forward Gavin McKenna, who was taken with the first overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, from singing the praises of goaltender Anthony Stolarz, who has split duties with veteran offseason signing Sergei Bobrovsky.
Toronto Maple Leafs Forward Gavin McKenna Praises Goaltender Anthony Stolarz
For rookie forward Gavin McKenna, he revealed that not only is Stolarz an “awesome” goalie to play with, but that he attempts to fire up his teammates when he returns to the bench during television timeouts.
“He’s an awesome goalie to play in front of,” he said via Leafs Latest. “Every time he comes back to the bench, he’s always trying to get the boys fired up. He’s a pretty vocal goalie, which I haven’t played with many goalies like that.
When you have a guy like that who’s fired up to be in the net, it makes you want to play that much better for him. He’s been awesome for us, and we want to do the same for him.”
So far this season, Stolarz, who is playing in his third season with the Maple Leafs since signing as a free agent in 2024, has amassed a record of 5-3 with a 2.90 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage; he’s still looking to earn his first shutout of the campaign.
Maple Leafs Coach Jim Hiller Speaks Frankly On Sergei Bobrovsky’s Performance
The Maple Leafs managed to lure veteran goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky to town after he had spent the last seven years with the divisional rival Florida Panthers; his time in the Sunshine State included three straight trips to the Stanley Cup Final and two titles; during two of those postseason runs, he helped the Panthers beat the Maple Leafs in a seven-game series.
But Bobrovsky has not performed well in the early goings of his Maple Leafs tenure, leaving many to wonder if age has caught up with the veteran.
Head coach Jim Hiller spoke honestly about Bobrovsky’s performance in net, saying that he still has confidence in the goaltender.
“He’s had some really good games. He’s had some average games. Like every player, no different than forwards, defensemen, everybody else. Power play, penalty kill, just keep working on areas of the game and try to get better. So that goes for everybody, though. We can’t just look to one guy. I mean, you can poke holes in our game in different areas and different players. Everybody’s trying to get better,” Hiller said.
Maple Leafs’ Gavin McKenna Has Telling Thought On Anthony Stolarz