Maple Leafs place Matt Murray on long-term injured reserve
Murray owned a 14-8-2 record and a .901 save percentage in his first season with the Maple Leafs.
Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Matt Murray has been placed on long-term injured reserve and is out indefinitely prior to the start of the 2023-24 season, the team announced Wednesday.
Murray was widely expected to be traded or placed on LTIR ahead of the upcoming season, with Ilya Samsonov and Joseph Woll earmarked as the Maple Leafs’ goaltending tandem. The 29-year-old Murray was acquired in a July 2022 trade with the Ottawa Senators and entered last season as the Leafs' nominal starter.
The two-time Stanley Cup winner experienced a turbulent opening season with the franchise. Murray began the season strong before an adductor injury sidelined him for four weeks. He returned to action in December before his play significantly tailed off when the new calendar year began. Murray suffered several minor injuries throughout the year before an April concussion incurred against the Detroit Red Wings ended his season. He played in 26 games, posting a 14-8-2 record with a .901 save percentage during the regular season.
Murray’s LTIR designation signifies that the Maple Leafs will not buy out the remainder of his contract. If the Maple Leafs were to entertain this option, they would incur a $687,500 cap hit for the upcoming season and a $2 million tax for the 2024-25 season. Toronto would also be ineligible to buy out Murray’s contract due to his injury designation.
Worth noting here that Matt Murray obviously being injured and going on long term injured reserve indefinitely, also means that the #Leafs would not have been able to buyout him in their second window even if they wanted to.
You cannot buyout an injured player. https://t.co/HbJpoXnMRH— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) July 26, 2023
Although Murray is genuinely injured and unable to start the season, this designation also provides practical cap solutions for the Maple Leafs. Murray’s $4.68-million salary will be added to the team’s LTIR pool, where he’s expected to join Jake Muzzin ($5.625-million for 2023-24) in the reserve, freeing up some much-needed space for the front-loaded franchise. Toronto is currently projected to be $1.28 million over the cap, with plenty of time to figure out how it can manipulate its way to get under the $83.5-million maximum.
Samsonov will now enter the season as the unquestioned starting goaltender, while Woll serves as his backup. Both Murray and Samsonov were brought in to compete for the No. 1 role, and though the former was named as the opening night starter, Samsonov rose to the challenge and submitted the best performance of his career.
After going to arbitration, Samsonov was awarded a one-year, $3.55-million contract for next year.
