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The Toronto Maple Leafs are banged up right now between the pipes, as Anthony Stolarz has been placed on Injured Reserve and will miss the next several weeks.
And while the Leafs have a capable goalie in Joseph Woll ready to handle the bulk of the starts, it looks as though they're turning to a former Stanley Cup-winning netminder for Friday's game against the struggling Buffalo Sabres.
NHL analyst Elliotte Friedman reported that the Leafs are ready to start Matt Murray, who is in his third season with the organization; it will be his first start since April 2023. He last suited up against the Detroit Red Wings at Scotiabank Arena and was hurt when forward Lucas Raymond accidentally collided with him.
Murray subsequently underwent bilateral hip surgery and was on the shelf for several months.
He was acquired by the Leafs from the Ottawa Senators in July of 2022.
Maple Leafs goaltender Matt Murray hasn't played in the NHL since April 2023
The Maple Leafs, who picked up Murray from the Senators in a July 2022 trade, tried to roll with the tandem of Murray and Ilya Samsonov during his first year with the team.
However, Murray ran into injury issues, as has been the case throughout his NHL Career.
He helped the Penguins win back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2016 and 2017, and was essentially declared the heir-apparent to Penguins icon Marc-Andre Fleury, who was allowed to leave the organization and was subsequently taken by the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft.
But Murray was never able to replicate the postseason success that he had during that pair of postseason runs, and he was soon on the way out of Pittsburgh; as a pending restricted free agent, the Leafs traded Murray to the Senators, with whom he soon inked a four-year contract.
Murray has a career NHL record of 146-86-24 with a 2.79 goals-against-average and a .910 save percentage.
