Magic Marlies Win Calder Cup Final Opener

The Toronto Marlies remarkable run in the Calder Cup Playoffs has featured excellent goaltending from Artur Akhtyamov and timely offense from veterans and youngsters alike, but the reason the Toronto Maple Leafs AHL affiliate is within three games of winning the championship is their ability to win on the road. 

The Marlies in the opener of the Calder Cup Final against the Chicago Wolves on Friday bounced back from the home club taking the lead in the first and second period to tie the game late in each stanza, and took the lead for good in the third, as veteran Vinni Letteri scored the game-winner on a great individual effort and added the empty netter to give Toronto a 4-2 victory and a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. 

Ben Danford and Cedric Pare also scored for Toronto, and Akhtyamov made 26 saves for his 12th victory of the postseason. The Marlies went to the max in the first three rounds of the playoffs, eliminating the Rochester Americans at Coca-Cola Coliseum in the best-of-three first round. Toronto then eliminated the North Division-winning Laval Rocket in five games, with the series-clinching 3-2 victory in Laval, followed by a five-game series win over the Cleveland Monsters, with another 3-2 win coming on the road. 

Toronto’s win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in six games included three wins on the road, including a pair in overtime. The win over the Wolves is the Marlies’ fifth straight victory on the road and now gives them home-ice advantage, but based on how they have played in the postseason, that might be considered home-ice disadvantage. 

Stolarz For Next To Nothing…….Deal

It is trade board season, which sometimes piques the curiosity of fans of a particular team, and can also infuriate them at the same time. On Daily Faceoff’s latest trade board, the list was littered with Maple Leafs players. Some of which (Auston Matthews, Matthew Knies) are not going to be traded, since the Leafs do not have a GM who should have been placed in a straitjacket any longer, but the list does include the likes of those who could be on the way out of town.

We will leave the defensive debate on Morgan Rielly and Brandon Carlo for another time, but the name on the board that intrigues is goaltender Anthony Stolarz. The 32-year-old has not even begun his four-year, $15 million extension handed out by former GM Brad Treliving, but the Leafs have a logjam with Joseph Woll, Dennis Hildeby, and Akhtyamov.

Many consider the fact that the return for Stolarz in a trade would be minimal at best, but that is inconsequential. The point is that he is undependable and injury-prone as a starter with a heavy workload, but can be excellent as a tandem starter with limited work, as he was in the season where the Leafs won the Atlantic Division. Even if the Leafs get a 2029 seventh-round pick, they should jump at the chance to trade Stolarz and clear him off of their cap, rather than trading the younger Woll, who was healthy for all but a small stretch last season.