Report: Maple Leafs could ditch Matt Murray

The Toronto Maple Leafs and general manager Kyle Dubas in particular took a tremendous risk by overhauling their goaltending this past summer, electing to part ways with Jack Campbell and Petr Mrazek while bringing aboard Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov. 

The good news for the Leafs and their fans right now is that for the most part, the move has worked at least in terms of his win-loss record of 14-8-2. His goals against, just slightly above 3.00, leaves a bit to be desired. But of course, the main knock on Murray is his ability to stay healthy. And right now, he's currently on the shelf after being injured through no fault of his own.

Could Dubas be thinking of pulling the plug on Murray after just one season in Toronto? According to Luke Fox in his latest Maple Leafs Mailbag for Sportsnet, it's a possibility.

Take a look what what he had to say when a fan asked him if he envisioned the Leafs dumping Murray this summer: 

"Yes. If the Petr Mrazek era taught us anything, it’s that the Maple Leafs will pay to correct a mistake — and that injury-prone goaltenders may, indeed, be prone to injury.

Let’s see how the goalies perform in the spring first, but there will be options.

Murray could be traded to a team trying to reach the cap floor, or even bought out at a not-awful price. Because the Ottawa Senators are paying freight too, a Murray buyout would cost the Leafs $687,500 against their cap in 2023-24 and $2 million in 2024-25, when the ceiling should spike. Samsonov is a restricted free agent. No doubt, his performance in the first round against Tampa will factor into his next raise, whether that’s with the Leafs or someone else." 

We'll certainly be watching with great interest not only to see what the Maple Leafs acre able to accomplish in the postseason, but what they decide to do in terms of player personnel.