Maple Leafs G Murray out indefinitely, will go on LTIR
Published
The Toronto Maple Leafs will place goaltender Matt Murray on long-term injured reserved prior to the start of the season, the team announced Wednesday.
The Maple Leafs said Murray is out indefinitely, but did not provide details on the injury.
Murray went 14-8-2 with a .903 save percentage and a 3.01 goals-against average in his first season in Toronto while dealing with several different injuries over the campaign. He was healthy enough to serve as backup in the team's second-round playoff series.
The 29-year-old had previously been considered a buy out candidate with the Maple Leafs in need of cap relief after Ilya Samsonov was awarded a one-year, $3.55 million deal in arbitration.
Murray is signed for one more year at a cap hit of $4.69 million for Toronto, with the Ottawa Senators retaining an additional $1.56 million on their books. He was acquired last summer from the Senators, along with a third-round draft pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, in exchange for future considerations.
Ottawa signed Murray to his current four-year, $25 million contract in free agency in 2020.
Murray has been limited to 27 games or less in each of the past three seasons. In 272 career games, he has a 146-86-24 record with a .910 save percentage and a 2.79 GAA.
The Thunder Bay, Ont., native won two Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and 2017.
Woll in line for backup job
With Murray sidelined, Joseph Woll appears set to take over the Maple Leafs' backup goaltender role full-time.
The 25-year-old had a 6-1-0 record with a .932 save percentage and a 2.16 GAA in seven regular-season games last year. He took over the starting role in the playoffs after Ilya Samsonov was injured, going 1-2 with a .915 save percentage and a 2.43 GAA.
Woll is signed through the 2024-25 season at a cap hit of $766,667.
Maple Leafs remain over the cap
While moving Murray to LTIR brings the Maple Leafs back under the maximum off-season salary cap, Toronto remains just under $2.1 million over the cap for next season, per Capfriendly.
The Maple Leafs have $85.5 million committed to 22 healthy players for next season.
Toronto was active in free agency earlier this month, adding Tyler Bertuzzi, John Klingberg, Max Domi and Ryan Reaves to their roster.