Matt Murray leaves Leafs morning skate with apparent groin issue

Oh boy.

Just three days after making his regular season debut with the Toronto Maple Leafs, goaltender Matt Murray was forced to leave the team’s morning skate on Saturday due to groin discomfort.

Coach Sheldon Keefe confirmed the discomfort during a media availability after practice, but was unsure as to Murray’s status for the night.

If Murray can’t play, it’s about to get complicated.

Some video on the situation pic.twitter.com/8sjpQ2H38r

— David Alter (@dalter) October 15, 2022

The Leafs currently have four goalies signed to NHL contracts: Murray, Ilya Samsonov, Erik Kallgren and Dennis Hildeby. Kallgren went down with an injury during the Toronto Marlies’ season opener on Friday, and Hildeby is in Sweden. Kallgren was cleared to play, and if Murray can’t play and is put on LTIR, Kallgren will be eligible to join the team.

If it’s day-to-day, the Leafs will need to go the PTO route, likely adding University of Toronto goaltender Jett Alexander.

The Leafs are also at the maximum allowed 50 contracts right now, meaning they can’t easily sign someone to a standard deal.

Toronto hosts the Ottawa Senators tonight at 7:00 PM ET, so finding a solution is a short span will be challenging. A year ago today, the Leafs were forced to use University of Toronto goaltender Alex Bishop as backup due to cap constraints. And, of course, you can’t forget the David Ayres game back in 2020.

Murray has a history of injuries, missing time with multiple ailments last year, and a bout of COVID-19. He also had two different injuries the season before in Pittsburgh.

The Leafs acquired Murray from the Senators during the off-season, taking his $4.687 million cap hit with him. Murray, a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Penguins, struggled last year due to injuries and poor play. Murray spent time in the AHL with the Binghamton Senators, but his trade to Toronto was supposed to be a fresh start for the 28-year-old.

Murray was a standout for the Leafs in a loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday, with Samsonov suiting up on Thursday against Washington.

If Murray can play, then crisis averted. If not, tonight might get a bit more interesting for the Buds.