What’s next for Matt Murray with the Toronto Maple Leafs?

Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

Matt Murray was a relaxed man on locker room cleanout day on Monday.

It’s been a while since Murray spoke to the media, with the 28-year-old having last played on April 2 – almost a month and a half ago. Murray missed the end of the regular season with a concussion, and after he was cleared to go, and Ilya Samsonov went down with an injury in the playoffs, the Leafs found themselves calling upon third-stringer Joseph Woll instead of the two-time Stanley Cup starting goaltender.

It’s easy to have a negative outlook after something like that, but Murray was positive ahead of an offseason full of unknowns.

With all the speculation surrounding lineup changes, and the future of coach Sheldon Keefe and GM Kyle Dubas, there’s also the future of Murray in Toronto after the team acquired him from Ottawa last year. Murray had some significant ups and downs this year, missing time with injuries on multiple occasions and posting a 14-8-2 record with a .903 save percentage in 26 games. Statistically, he was the third-best goalie on the Leafs this year, and way too inconsistent to regain the No. 1 role, even if healthy.

After suffering an injury following the season’s first game, Murray returned Nov. 15 and went 8-1-2 over his next 11 games. With Samsonov out of the equation, seeing a healthy, thriving Murray was good. But things started to fall apart from there, with injuries taking him out for a month and a half starting in late January, and consecutive wins seemed hard to come by.

Suddenly, Murray went from being the team’s No. 1 to third-stringer for the playoffs.

“It’s like any season, really. There are going to be ups and downs. My whole thing is to play the best I can with the cards I’m dealt and focus on what I can control.”

Murray has one year left on his deal with a $6.25 million cap hit and a modified no-trade clause. Given Samsonov’s strong play during the year, as well as the emergence (and low cap hit) of Joseph Woll, there are questions about Murray’s future in the city. Some have suggested he heads to long-term injured reserve, a la Robidas Island.

With a $6.25 million cap hit, that would give the team some significant relief. But you can’t just send a player into the void without a legitimate reason. If Murray is healthy, as he confirmed he is today, that could make things more difficult.

Ideally, the Leafs could offload his salary somewhere over the offseason and try and free up cap space. But with Murray’s shaky injury history (he hasn’t played in 30 games since 2019-20 in Pittsburgh), plus boasting poor overall stats over the past few years, that’ll be difficult. Whether it’s Dubas, or another man in charge, they’ll have to judge how much they truly value him for one more year, especially with Woll ready to go.

For Murray, it’s still business as usual. He said he’s feeling good and ready for another crack at the starter’s gig in Toronto. Samsonov is an RFA, and it seems unlikely they’ll move on from him given the way he played most of the season. But for now, Murray has a contract, and he’s looking ready to get back to training for 2023-24.

So don’t bother talking to him about LTIR.

“My goal is to maintain the kind of level that I was playing in November and December and maintain that all season,” Murray said. “If I can do that, we’ll be in good shape.”

But will Murray be in Toronto next fall? If the Leafs want to solidify their crease situation, they’ll likely have to explore all options for No. 30. And a lot has to deal with his health. He missed the last 28 games with an upper-body issue last year. He then missed 13 of the first 14 with an adductor before missing another 12 due to an ankle injury. Add in six regular season games and nine playoff games due to a head injury, and that’s 68 games missed since March of 2022.

You can’t predict an injury, but there’s no question there’s an issue there. And if Murray gets hurt again, you’d have to think they’d throw him on Robidas Island, let him get his paycheck and focus on a Samsonov/Woll combo – which might be the best from a performance standpoint.

There’s also the buyout route, which, according to CapFriendly, would have a cap hit of $687,500 next year and $2 million the next year. It might be worth it if they can get Samsonov at a fair price. But deadweight money is never ideal, regardless of who you are. You can imagine the Leafs will look for every other option, and, if they retain half the salary next year, a team might be willing to bite if Murray is willing to move.

We can only speculate as to Murray’s future in Toronto. But he wants to be here. He wants to play for a Stanley Cup. There’s a reason he waived to move from Ottawa to play for his childhood hockey club. But discussions about his future won’t be easy. Murray proved he can play good hockey when healthy, but that’s still asking a lot at this point. It’s not like he’s alone there, either: Samsonov and Woll both dealt with their own injury demons last year. But with Murray, the issues never seem to disappear.

For now, Toronto’s management has to figure out its own situation. Then, whoever the GM is, they can make decisions from there. Regardless, it’s a discussion that won’t go away anytime soon, and just be glad you’re not the one trying to make it work out.

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What’s next for Matt Murray with the Toronto Maple Leafs?

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