Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe named his starting goaltenders for the club’s first two games of the regular season. At which point they will “take it from there”.
Matt Murray will get the first chance to stake his claim for the Toronto Maple Leafs’ net when the club opens their regular season against the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday.
“We really wanted Murray to get the first game and just get rolling,” Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said of the decision.
Murray played in three games during Toronto’s pre-season and two of the games were against the Canadiens, so it should be a familiar scenario for one of Toronto’s new netminders.
The 28-year-old was acquired from the Ottawa Senators in July in a trade that saw the Leafs acquire draft picks, while Ottawa retained 25 percent of Murray’s $6.25 million salary cap.
No doubt a reclamation project after a difficult tenure with the Senators, Toronto hasn’t named a starting goaltender. But based on the investment in him, it looks like it’s going to be Murray’s net to lose.
Ilya Samsonov will get the nod the following night in goal when the Leafs host the Washington Capitals in their home opener.
Samsonov signed a one-year, $1.8 million contract with the Maple Leafs this summer and will get a chance to play against his former team in his Maple Leafs’ debut.
“We have a bit of a plan for how things may go but decisions but the plan changes every day,” Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said of the goaltending situation. “The back-to-back [games] are pretty straight forward and we’ll take it from there.”
The quality of goaltending will be a focal point all season long after the club decided to part ways with former starter Jack Campbell. He signed a five-year, $25 million contract with the Edmonton Oilers this summer.