Matt Murray was scheduled to start against his former team on Saturday, but his status is up in the air after a groin injury. What the Maple Leafs do if he can’t play has a lot of moving parts.
Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Matt Murray was set to play against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday but his status for the game is in flux after he departed the team’s morning skate with a groin injury.
He’ll be assessed by team doctors before determining his playing status for the game, but what happens if he can’t play?
“It’s too early to tell you what happens given the ‘what if’ scenarios or anything like that,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. “We’re just going to focus on getting Matt assessed and take it from there.”
It was one year ago on Sunday when the Maple Leafs were in a bit of a roster crunch. They signed U of T goaltender Alex Bishop to an amateur tryout (ATO) and he dressed as the team’s back up for one game. The Leafs were unable to call up a goalie from the Toronto Marlies until they technically played a game short.
After the game, the Maple Leafs were able to call up Michael Hutchinson on an emergency exception.
If Murray can’t go against the Senators, another ATO goaltender would likely have to serve as a backup to Ilya Samsonov, unless Murray’s injury is determined to be long term.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports the goaltender ready in case of that scenario is Jett Alexander, who was part of the Maple Leafs’ EBUG rotation last year.
But the situation for the Maple Leafs this season is different.
On Friday, Marlies goaltender Erik Kallgren was injured after he was run over by Rochester’s Ethan Prow and did not return. According to Friedman, Kallgren has been cleared from the injury and would be the next goalie called up after Saturday if Murray is unable to play.
Goaltender Joseph Woll is still recovering from a shoulder injury and is not an option.
If Murray can’t go on Saturday, the Maple Leafs would have to dress an EBUG or ATO for at least one game. Unless a possible scenario is determined that Murray’s injury is of the long-term variety. That would allow the Leafs to clear up an addition $4.875 million in additional LTI salary cap space and Kallgren would be allowed to suit up as a backup to Samsonov in time for Saturday’s game.
The extra amount of space would also help the Maple Leafs as they would be able to call up three addition players and carrying the NHL maximum of 23 players.
They currently carry the minimum 20 players right now due to salary cap constraints.
Kallgren’s clearance from Friday’s game is a relief for Toronto who could have found themselves in a position where they may not have been permitted to add another goaltender. Already at the 50-contract limit, the only other healthy goaltender after Kallgren signed to an NHL goaltender is 2022 fourth-round draft pick Dennis Hildeby, who is currently on loan with Farjestads BK of the Swedish Hockey League.
It’s not clear if Hildeby would be an option for Toronto as many of these loan agreements have terms in place. It’s hard to envision a situation where the Swedish team would stand in Hildeby’s way of going to the NHL.
There is no leeway on the 50 NHL contract rule.
But for now, Toronto is right up against it and it’s adding another layer in the goaltending storyline that was already hot when the club traded for Murray in July.