Bold plan including Matt Murray emerges in order to land 2 forwards in Toronto

The Toronto Maple Leafs are having a busy offseason as another issue lands on the table of general manager Brad Treliving. He must keep an eye on the health of his new acquisition, 6-foot-7 defensive monster Jani Hakanpaa, who could be unfit to return to NHL ice.

Hakanpaa has signed a two-year, $3M contract with the Maple Leafs, however, reports have emerged that the giant blue liner may never see the ice in the NHL again, per Steve Simmons with the Toronto Sun, because of a serious knee injury.
GM Treliving could have to place him on the team’s long-term injured list, and if that’s the case, reporter and writer Joseph Zita suggest pushing veteran goalie Matt Murray on waivers in order to free up $6 million in cap space. That way, the Maple Leafs could address two final forward spots.

The Leafs are $1.6M over the cap with a 24/23 roster and freeing up any penny would help.

Murray was re-signed by Toronto on a one-year, $875,000 deal on Tuesday. He missed all of last season following bilateral hip surgery in October. It was the final year of his four-year, $25 million contract he signed with Ottawa in 2020.

Last summer, when noon struck on July 26, the time Toronto could waive Murray, they stunned everyone by placing him instead on the LTIR.

It would be as surprising to see GM Treliving shoving him on waivers to free up $875,000, but it seems like we never know what the real plan is in Toronto.

One thing is clear is that the Leafs need to add forward depth, and getting cap space to add up front needs to happen in order to have options on the roster.

Let’s see if GM Treliving considers this bold strategy, and if it pays off.