SIMMONS: The long and winding road for giant Maple Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz

Anthony Stolarz was drafted in the second round to Philadelphia in 2012 , the same draft in which the Leafs got Morgan Rielly .

The 6 -foot-6 goalie was drafted by Andrei Vasilevsiy in what might be the greatest goalie draft ever.

He was traded to Edmonton for a veteran goalie, Cam Talbot , and the Oilers , like the Flyers , needed a goalie.

He went to Anaheim , mostly to work in the AHL in San Diego , but there was no place for an imbalanced goalie on the roster.

Anthony Stolarz was signed by the Toronto Maple Leafs to pair with Joseph Woll this season .

With the Panthers , backing up Sergei Bobrovsky , he had a 2.03 goals against average and a925 save percentage in all of hockey last season .

Dallas Stars coach Eakins : "He’s one of those kids you cheer for”.

Sudsie Maharaj and Stolarz text each other regularly.

They are planning a lunch date out soon that will hopefully include his wife.

“I would never write anybody off, especially a guy that big with that much athleticism but I wasn’t sure he’d make it. That was a long time ago (I had him) after so many years, you can give up on some people,” Maharaj said.