The Friday Four is a collection of thoughts and information on some intriguing storylines from around the NHL. On deck this week is:
· Who will gain the edge between Stolarz and Woll?
· Can Demko stay healthy?
· Will Kochetkov step up?
· Can Lindgren gain ground on Thompson?
The Toronto Maple Leafs had an embarrassment of riches in net last season, with both Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll having strong campaigns. Stolarz was the better of the two, though, and by the end of the year he had clearly separated himself as the team’s No. 1 goalie. The 31-year-old finished first in the NHL in save percentage, third in goals against average and fourth in goals saved above expected, setting himself up for a nice raise and more term with his next contract extension.
Woll wasn’t too shabby either, finishing with a .909 save percentage and six more wins than Stolarz had. That’s in part because Woll was actually the healthier of the two goalies last year and played more, missing only a handful of games to start the season and avoiding any significant injuries the rest of the way.
Even though Stolarz claimed the top job in 2024-25, that doesn’t mean he’s guaranteed to keep it going forward. Stolarz has yet to prove he can handle a full starter’s workload, topping out at a career-high 34 games last season, and has battled injuries constantly throughout his career. The Maple Leafs will likely continue to rotate the two, but can Stolarz maintain his level of play with another 15 or 20 games on his plate?
Injuries have also been a concern for Woll, but last year went a long way in quelling some of the fears management and fans have had regarding his durability. If Woll can put together another relatively injury-free season, he very well may end up playing more than Stolarz again by default and earn more trust from the coaching staff.
As it stands now, one would suspect Stolarz will get the start on opening night when the Maple Leafs take on the Montreal Canadiens, though there is still training camp and a handful of pre-season games to work through. If Woll has a really strong pre-season and Stolarz falters a little, it would at least give Craig Berube something to think about when deciding on his starter for Game 1. The gap between Stolarz and Woll isn’t that big.
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How big a battle this is largely depends on Thatcher Demko’s health. The 29-year-old appeared in just 23 games last season and posted very un-Demko-like numbers, but there is a lot of confidence that he will be back to 100 per cent this season. So much so, the Canucks extended the netminder this summer for three more years with an AAV of $8.5 million. They wouldn’t have made such an investment if they didn’t believe Demko could regain his form.
It won’t be easy to completely overtake Kevin Lankinen, though. He performed admirably in the Canucks crease in 2024-25 after only signing with the team in late September. Lankinen ended up playing more than 50 games and was especially impressive on the road, going 16-6-5. His play was one of the main reasons the Canucks were at least in the playoff conversation right up until the end, and without Lankinen the season could’ve been a complete disaster. The Canucks rewarded Lankinen with a five-year, $22.5-million deal and clearly have him pencilled in as a big part of their crease moving forward.
There will be a lot of eyes on Demko in the pre-season to see how he looks between the pipes. Pre-season games aren’t the best way to evaluate a player, but it will be interesting to watch Demko's movement and the way he navigates the blue paint coming off a nagging injury. A healthy Demko would certainly give him an edge over Lankinen and, if there are no setbacks, expect him to get the lion’s share of the starts. That said, Lankinen built up a lot of trust for his work last season and Vancouver likely won’t hesitate to turn to him if necessary.
Regardless of who ends up with more playing time, expect both goalies to get a decent share of the net as the Canucks won’t want to overtax Demko, even if he is 100 per cent, and risk another ailment. Realistically, if Vancouver hopes to get back to the playoffs and make some noise, it’s going to take a healthy Demko to get them there.
Despite Pyotr Kochetkov being nearly 10 years younger than Frederik Andersen, the torch has yet to be passed in the Carolina Hurricanes crease. After a couple of very strong seasons to start his career, Kochetkov took a step back last year and finished with a save percentage below .900. He was even worse down the stretch, recording an .841 save percentage between his final seven regular-season starts and four post-season appearances. This ultimately resulted in Andersen getting the bulk of the work in the playoffs.
Andersen will turn 36 in early October and has a lengthy injury history, so the job is ripe for the taking for Kochetkov, but it won’t be easy. The Hurricanes have typically been one of the more goalie-friendly teams in recent years, playing a great structure with a commitment to defence under head coach Rod Brind'Amour. However, last season they weren’t as tidy defensively as they had been in the past. Carolina ranked 20th when it came to high-danger chances allowed, way down from their mark in 2023-24, when they finished second overall in that department. It will be interesting to see if that trend continues this pre-season and into the regular season for the Hurricanes. Their roster is still solid from top to bottom but if they are no longer that stout defensively, it could really hurt a less experienced goalie like Kochetkov.
Ultimately, it seems unlikely that Andersen will be able to make it through a full season at this point without being sidelined for a substantial stretch, so expect Kochetkov to get plenty of starts regardless. How he bounces back from last year, though, will determine whether Kochetkov gets the call over Andersen for Carolina’s most important games in 2025-26.
Everything went right for the Washington Capitals last season, as only the Winnipeg Jets finished with more points than they did. The Capitals were powered by the duo of Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren between the pipes, who essentially split the starts right down the middle a year ago. Thompson was the better of the two, going 31-6-6 with a .910 save percentage and earning the call when the playoffs came around.
Lindgren’s record was excellent as well, but his other numbers weren’t nearly as good as Thompson’s. His save percentage of .896 was disappointing after his 2023-24 campaign that saw Lindgren break out with 25 wins and a mark of .911. What was most impressive about that showing from Lindgren was that he appeared in 50 games after playing sparingly for the majority of his career as a backup. Lindgren will have to get back to that level this season if he wants to overtake Thompson as the team’s No. 1 goaltender.
That will be easier said than done, though. Thompson should be a motivated netminder in 2025-26 after being passed up for a spot on Canada's 4 Nations Face-Off roster and left out of Canada’s Olympic orientation camp this summer. He would be justified if he felt slighted, given how thin the position is for Canada right now and how well he played last season. The 28-year-old will likely enter the year with a chip on his shoulder, trying to prove to Canada's brass that he’s worthy of a trip to the Olympics. If last year was any indication, expect Thompson to start fast right out of the gate. He began the 2024-25 campaign by winning his first seven starts and went 12-1-1 in his first 14 games.
Lindgren is really facing an uphill battle to overtake Thompson and it’s going to take a Herculean effort in the pre-season to jump up the depth chart. That said, if Lindgren can get back to the level he showed a couple of years ago, he certainly could make things interesting.
