Trade Pitch Has Maple Leafs Acquiring Veteran Goalie to Replace Injured Stolarz

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Trade pitch has Maple Leafs acquiring Alex Lyon.

The Toronto Maple Leafs got devastating news as starting goalie Anthony Stolarz is out for four-to-six weeks after undergoing knee surgery.

The website PuckPedia‘s PuckGM tool lets users create their own trades. One user proposed a deal that would see the Maple Leafs acquiring Alex Lyon from the Detroit Red Wings.

Maple Leafs acquire:

• Alex Lyon ($450k retained)

Red Wings acquire:

• Nick Robertson

The proposed deal would be a one-for-one swap and it does make sense for both sides. Toronto gets a veteran goalie, while the Red Wings get a young skilled forward while clearing its logjam at goalie.

Lyon is in the final year of his two-year $1.8 million deal. Lyon would add insurance behind Joseph Woll and would come in cheap. The veteran goalie has proven he can start games in the NHL as this season, he’s 4-4 with a 2.74 GAA and a .911 SV%. In his NHL career, he’s 41-33-10 with a 3.02 GAA and a .905 SV%.

Robertson, meanwhile, is a former second-round pick of the Maple Leafs, but he has struggled to fit in. He requested a trade this offseason but ended up re-signing on a one-year deal. This season, he’s skated in 24 games recording 3 goals and 1 assist for 4 points. He would be able to have a much bigger role with Detroit.

Maple Leafs GM Comments on Stolarz’s Injury

Toronto received the disappointing news that Stolarz needed knee surgery.

Stolarz underwent an MRI which revealed no structural damage, but a “loose body” was discovered which forced the surgery.

“He’s going to have a procedure to have that removed,” Treliving said. “It’s not a repair or anything of that nature but they are going to remove that loose body. It looks like a little pebble. I would anticipate we are looking in the 4-6 week range, hopefully sooner rather than later. Obviously you don’t want to see anybody out, especially a goaltender who has been playing well like that. But it has to be addressed, and we are going to get it addressed.”

Stolarz was expected to be part of a goalie tandem with Woll, but he took over the starting job. Before the injury, he was 9-5-2 with a 2.15 GAA and a .927 SV%.

Treliving also was confident in the goalie depth Toronto has to keep them afloat while Stolarz is out.

“I’ve got lots of confidence in our group,” Treliving said. “Joseph has played extremely well. This is nothing new for us; we’ve been dealing with some injuries and that’s why we’ve got depth at all the positions. Joe and Anthony have been tremendous as a pair for us, but we’ve got Dennis and Matt and ‘Double A’ down there, so we feel we’ve got some depth at the position and this is why we have it.”

The Maple Leafs return to the ice on December 18 against the Dallas Stars.

Red Wings Activate Lyon From IR

Detroit activated Lyon from injured reserve on December 18.

Lyon hasn’t played since November 25 due to a lower-body injury. The goaltender is set to start in Detroit’s December 18 game against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Detroit has Lyon, Cam Talbot, and Ville Husso all on the NHL roster creating a bit of a logjam at the goalie position.