The 2025 4 Nations Face-Off rosters were recently announced and while it’s important to celebrate who was invited to participate in the inaugural event, the rosters have certainly opened up a conversation about who wasn’t invited.

Insert Toronto Maple Leafs’ goaltender Anthony Stolarz. The 30-year-old native of Edison, NJ was not one of the three goalies named for Team USA, as Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets, Jake Oettinger of the Dallas Stars, and Jeremy Swayman of the Boston Bruins made the team. While Hellebuyck and Oettinger were locks, there’s a case to be made for Stolarz being the third goaltender over Swayman.

First off – ‘what have you done for me lately?’. In short order, Stolarz’s strong start to his Maple Leafs’ tenure has propelled him up the NHL goaltending ranks. Heading into Friday’s action he has an 8-4-2 record, along with a 2.23 goals against average and .924 save percentage (Sv.%). For goalies with more than 10 appearances this season, Stolarz ranks third in the NHL in Sv.%, behind Team Sweden’s presumed starter Filip Gustavsson and USA’s Hellebuyck.

Stolarz has carried the momentum he built for himself last season with the Stanley Cup-winning Florida Panthers, and hasn’t missed a beat in Toronto. He’s currently one of the best goaltenders in the league and it’s not close. Let’s take a peek at how a few of his numbers stack up against Swayman’s.

Numbers don’t lie. Stolarz has been far superior to Swayman this year, so how does the Bruins’ netminder get the tap instead? Half the tournament is being played in Boston, so there’s the familiarity aspect if Swayman was actually thrown into the fire ahead of Hellebuyck or Oettinger. He’s played more games in a season before, but that can’t be the only reason, and who cares how much of a workload he’s had in the past? We’re talking about a two-week tournament here, and everyone knows it’s either Hellebuyck or Oettinger getting the first couple of games.

When you’re the third goaltender, you’re the guy who gets thrown into the fire after something goes wrong. The third goalie knows he’s not playing and is very much a ‘vibes’ guy until his number is called. It’s a role that isn’t meant for everyone. Some goaltenders aren’t necessarily comfortable with not dressing for two games and sitting up in the press box in a suit, and then all of a sudden asked to start the next game, which just so happens to be the most important game of the tournament.

At the end of the day, Team USA went with the safe pick in Swayman. He’s been a great tandem partner in the past, he’s played more in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and Swayman does have more NHL appearances under his belt than Stolarz. Meanwhile, Stolarz ranks among the NHL leaders in almost every key goaltending metric, and he’s handled the pressure of playing in Toronto with ease.

For now, Stolarz is on the outside looking in at Team USA’s crease, and frankly, he shouldn’t be.