New report on Matt Murray suggests what the Leafs' plan may be for him this summer

With Matt Murray having spent so much of the 2022-23 season on the shelf due to injury, it was hard for him to build any real momentum in his 1st year with the Leafs. Conversely, Ilya Samsonov also dealt with some injury issues this season, but persevered and played very well all season long and in the playoffs. When you combine that with 3rd string goalie Joseph Woll playing so well in Toronto this year, the writing may already be on the wall for Murray.

Samsonov, a restricted free agent, has already expressed his desire to get a deal done with the Leafs to remain in Toronto, conceivably for the long-term. Woll is signed for the next 2 seasons at a very modest $766K and will require waivers this season. The Leafs have a number of options available to them, including having Murray on LTIR all of next season, buying the 2-time Cup winner out, trading him with an asset as a sweetener, or simply rolling 3 goalies again next year. There is, however, another option.

The Athletic's Kevin Papetti reported on Monday that the Leafs may be more interested in retaining salary on Murray in order to move him. A buyout would leave the Leafs with a cap penalty for 2 seasons, while a year of retained salary only has them on the hook for 1 year. The other factor here is that the Leafs don't have a ton of draft picks, so tossing picks in as a sweetener in order to move that final year of Murray's deal is not the ideal choice for the Leafs.

Murray is entering the final year of his current deal, which carries a $6.25M cap hit in total, with the Leafs only on the hook for $4.687M. They may not even need to eat half of the deal in order to move him, since he was a slightly above average goaltender this past season when healthy. There's also a slim chance that a solid negotiator like Brad Treliving may be able to move Murray without any retention or sweeteners at the draft to a team who might be in need of a goalie. There are no shortage of options here for the Buds.