After Tuesday’s practice, GM Brad Treliving addressed the news of Anthony Stolarz’s four-to-six week injury timeline due to a procedure on his knee as well as the decision to send Fraser Minten down to the Marlies.
Statement on Anthony Stolarz’s knee procedure
Treliving: I want to provide an update on Anthony Stolarz, who left the game last week.
We did an MRI on him the following day. The good news was everything came back with no structural damage. There still seemed to be some discomfort with him and some issues moving his knee and straightening his leg. There was found almost like a little pebble — a little loose body that was stuck in behind his knee.
He’s going to have a procedure to have that removed. It’s not a repair. It’s not anything of that nature, but they’re going to remove a little loose body, I guess. It looks like a little pebble.
At this time, we’re going to list him as week to week. Hopefully, we will have a little bit of a better update. I anticipate that we’ll be looking at the four-to-six-week window — hopefully, sooner rather than later.
You don’t want to see anybody out — especially goaltenders who have been playing well — but it has to be addressed, and we’re going to get it addressed.
Q&A on Stolarz’s injury, Fraser Minten’s demotion
Is it the same knee that Stolarz has faced issues with before?
Treliving: He has had some issues with both. There have been issues there, but this isn’t related to any previous injury. It is not a reoccurrence.
It’s not uncommon for players to have, whether it be little loose chips or, basically, the medical group calls it “loose bodies.” It’s just in the wrong spot. We waited a few days to see if it would move, but it doesn’t allow him to get the full range of motion of his leg right now, so it’s got to be removed.
Was Stolarz experiencing discomfort with the knee?
Treliving: A little discomfort, but it’s more about being able to straighten. You see it in the picture. It is like a little pebble right in behind.
Any time you are having a procedure, it takes some time, but hopefully, they just go in, remove it, and he is on his road to recovery.
When and where will Stolarz have the procedure?
Treliving: Tomorrow, in New York.
How is Stolarz feeling mentally about the news?
Treliving: Disappointed, but again, we found what the issue is. Now, we can get it addressed. I don’t want to downplay anything, but the news is much better… Any time you are not feeling great, you are glad there is nothing where there is structural damage or you have to do something else, right?
He is feeling good that the issue has been identified and we’re going to get it addressed.
What is your confidence level in your goaltending situation without Stolarz for four to six weeks?
Treliving: I have a lot of confidence in our group. Joe (Woll) has played extremely well.
I said it earlier. This is nothing new for us. We’ve been dealing with some injuries. It is why we have depth at all of the positions.
Joe has been tremendous. Joe and Anthony as a pair have been tremendous for us. But we have Dennis (Hildeby), Matt (Murray), and Double-A (Artur Akhtyamov) down there. We feel we have some depth at the position. This is why you have it.
Is Matt Murray an option to come up?
Treliving: Absolutely. As I said, when I refer to the depth, it is not just one guy, right? We have three guys who have been playing well down there.
Dennis had a tremendous year last year and played well in his time up here. It is why we got Matt, too, right? Now, [Murray] was dealing with a little bit of a injury, but touch wood, we anticipate that he is going to get in the net tomorrow in Wilkes-Barre. We’ll go from there.
When deploying the goalies going forward, is the plan to ride Joseph Woll as the starter, or do you look to split things up and even the workload?
Treliving: Craig, his staff, and Curtis (Sanford) will put together the plan for that. We have full faith in Joseph.
We have a busy rest of this month. I think we have had a back-to-back on every weekend of the month, which is… unique.
We are going to need more than Joseph to play. Obviously, Curtis, Chief, and his staff will put that together.
Was it a difficult decision to send Fraser Minten down?
Treliving: I think he was tremendous. He played tremendously for us. Craig and I talk all the time, and we like this player a lot.
In his last few games, it started to taper a little bit. In the last game, when he wasn’t in the lineup, Craig controls the lineup card. If he is not going be in, and you’re a young player, you have to keep playing. You are not going to sit in the stands.
To me, I always find this with (younger) players. He came in, and then you come off of it a little bit. You realize it is an everyday league.
I have nothing but good things to say about how Fraser has played. We saw his brain. We saw all of the things he could do. He will be back.
