TORONTO — Getting depth goaltenders through the waiver wire is among the most unpredictable tasks NHL teams face in the days leading up to the regular season. An ill-timed injury, poor training camp performance or even a drawn-out contract negotiation elsewhere could prompt a rival to pluck your No. 3 just before opening night and weaken your organization at a key position.
The Toronto Maple Leafs know this well, having lost Curtis McElhinney and Calvin Pickard to waivers on the same day before the 2018-19 season and then Aaron Dell under the same circumstances ahead of the 2021-22 campaign.
So they’ve come up with a creative solution to try and keep it from happening again.
Included in the $875,000 contract the Leafs gave veteran Matt Murray over the summer is a $100,000 signing bonus due this Thursday, according to league sources — a pending payment that could serve as a disincentive for another team to put a claim in on Murray after he was exposed to the waiver wire Sunday afternoon.
Among the boatload of players on NHL waivers today are #leafs Marshall Rifai and Matt Murray, who is still working his way back from bilateral hip surgery that cost him last season.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) October 6, 2024
Teams have until 2 p.m. ET on Monday to decide if they’ll grab the two-time Stanley Cup winner coming off a lost season following bilateral hip surgery.
If someone really likes Murray and has a gaping need, the signing bonus likely won’t be enough to scare them away. But for those weighing whether it’s worth taking a flier on the 30-year-old with a long history of health challenges, it’s another data point to consider — especially with cheaper depth goaltending options Jiri Patera (Boston), Brandon Bussi (Boston), Devin Cooley (Calgary), Olivier Rodrigue (Edmonton), Marcus Hogberg (N.Y. Islanders) and Pheonix Copley (Los Angeles) among the other players also on waivers alongside him.
Toronto used a similarly structured contract to get veteran goaltender Martin Jones through waivers unclaimed last October and it ended up paying dividends. Jones was recalled from the American Hockey League in early December and never returned after Joseph Woll suffered a significant ankle injury — making 22 appearances for the Leafs while posting an 11-8-1 record.
While injuries are unpredictable, it seems inevitable that Toronto will need to call on its third (and potentially fourth) goaltender this season while rolling with a tandem of Woll and Anthony Stolarz. Neither of those men have previously made 30 NHL appearances in one regular season, let alone the 41 that would represent a 50-50 split of the available games.
History also provides a pretty good indicator of what to expect since the Leafs have averaged 13.5 appearances per season from their No. 3 goaltender when measured across the last four years.
This is a new situation for Murray. He was once previously placed on waivers by the Ottawa Senators in November 2021 but had no expectation of being claimed because of a $6.25 million cap hit and his considerable struggles at the time. Now on an affordable contract and feeling healthier than he has in years, it’s much more of an unknown.
“Yeah, I honestly don’t even really know much about the whole process,” Murray told The Athletic in an interview on Friday. “I know that’s something that could happen. We’ll deal with that bridge if and when it comes.”
While Murray is a long way removed from his history-making entrance to the NHL — he was only 23 when he lifted his second straight Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2017 — it would not be surprising to see him enjoy a renaissance after undergoing the bilateral hip procedure last October at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.
Injuries have been by far the biggest drag on his career, and surgeon Bryan Kelly told him that his procedure carried a higher rate of success because he was getting it so young. Murray spent all of last season rehabbing with the Leafs staff, returning for three AHL games with the Marlies in April and then getting another summer of training under his belt.
Other than battling through an illness that came on just before training camp started last month — “terrible timing,” said Murray — he didn’t experience any physical setbacks during a camp in which he was on the ice virtually every day and made two preseason appearances.
“I won’t say I’ve never felt so healthy, but I haven’t felt this healthy in a long time physically,” said Murray. “The hips feel great. I think because I got my hips fixed everything else is just feeling a lot better, too.
“So that’s given me a lot of energy, it feels like a lot of momentum, which is great. I realize we’ve got three really good capable guys here and there’s obviously only one net so that’s something to think about there.”
Murray was an unrestricted free agent with multiple contract offers in front of him in July before electing to return to the Leafs on a one-year deal. He made that decision because of the quality of the team, but also because of the uplifting environment the performance staff created for him during his six-plus-month rehab period last season — shouting out assistant strength and conditioning coach Artie Hairston, in particular.
The organization has invested in him and he’s invested in them.
Murray hopes to continue his comeback in Toronto, saying he’s got “a lot of things that keep the fire burning,” including a continued love for putting in the work and preparation needed to be a top-level performer and the opportunity to set an example for his two kids by showing them what it takes.
The next step in that journey is now subject to the whims of the NHL waiver wire. Murray plans to take it one day at a time no matter what’s thrown his way.
“I try to keep the mindset of I’m not one to complain about the hand that I’m dealt,” he said. “I just try to play it the best that I can.”
(Photo of Matt Murray in March 2023: Marc DesRosiers / USA Today)
