Leafs’ Anthony Stolarz, Mitch Marner to return to lineup vs. Kraken

Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube announced that goaltender Anthony Stolarz and winger Mitch Marner will return to the lineup for Thursday’s game against the Seattle Kraken.

Berube confirms Mitch Marner and Anthony Stolarz will play today.@BodogCA

— David Alter (@dalter) February 6, 2025

Stolarz has been out for the past eight weeks after sustaining a lower-body injury on December 12th against his former team, the Anaheim Ducks. The injury was first viewed as day-to-day, but the timeline continued to be all over the place until he appeared to be set for a return more recently.

Stolarz is expected to start in Thursday’s game against the Kraken, while Joseph Woll will be on the bench for the first time in five games. Woll started 18 of the Leafs’ 24 games without Stolarz in the lineup.

Stolarz has been a big part of the Leafs’ success this season with a 9-5-2 record, a .927 save percentage, 1 shutout and a 14.59 goals saved above expected in 17 games. His SV% currently leads all goaltenders with 15 games played.

Marner only missed Tuesday’s 6-3 win over the Calgary Flames due to a lower-body injury. The cause for the injury was unknown, but he was a game-time decision for the game, with his absence being announced only a couple hours before puck drop. It was expected that he would be good to go for Thursday’s game.

Based off of the lines used in the Leafs’ Thursday morning skate, it appears that the Leafs will give Max Domi another opportunity on Auston Matthews’ right wing on the top line, which is Marner’s usual spot. That means that Marner will form a bit of a super line for the second line with William Nylander and John Tavares, a trio that has spent 20:30 together this season, outscoring their competition 2-1 and sporting a 57.89% 5v5 expected goal share in that time.

Marner has had an excellent season in a much talked about contract year, and like Stolarz, has played a big role in the Leafs’ success despite all of their injuries. In 52 games played, he has 16 goals and 54 assists for 70 points, and seems well on the way to hitting the 100-point mark for the first time in his career if he remains healthy.

The Leafs currently sit in second in the Atlantic Division with a 32-19-2 record. They will look to build off of back-to-back wins to start their road trip when they visit the Kraken on Thursday at 10 p.m. EST.