Maple Leafs’ Matt Murray dealing with ankle injury

There was suspicion that Murray had some type of injury after he didn’t start on Friday night against the Ottawa Senators when he was scheduled to. It’s unclear when it occurred, but Ilya Samsonov ended up starting the game for the Maple Leafs. Toronto would go on to lose that game 6-2, with Samsonov allowing six goals on 34 shots.

Murray is set to undergo more tests today to see how severe the injury is.

Murray’s dealt with a couple of injuries this season, but that hasn’t stopped him from having a solid season in Toronto. He currently has an 11-5-2 record with a .911 save percentage and 3.24 goals saved above expected, far from amazing but certainly an improvement on his previous couple of seasons.

A backup for Samsonov hasn’t been named right now in wake of the Leafs' game on Sunday against the Washington Capitals, and no roster moves have been made in response to the injury. Erik Kallgren was called up the last time the Leafs had injuries with Samsonov and Murray, and had a 3-2-4 record with a .892 save percentage and -0.51 goals saved above expected in 10 games.

Joseph Woll could also be called up considering his recent play in the AHL, as he has a 12-1-0 record and a .928 save percentage with the Toronto Marlies. He got into four NHL games in 2021-22 for the Leafs, where he went 3-1-0 with a .911 save percentage.

Murray was a third-round pick by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2012 and spent five seasons with the Pens and two with the Senators before he was dealt to the Leafs along with a third and seventh-round pick for future considerations.

Murray is currently in the third year of a four-year contract with a $6.25 million contract that he signed with the Senators, although his cap hit is just at $4.6875 million with the Leafs since 25% of his salary was retained in the trade.

The injury bug seems to be hitting the Leafs right now, as Murray joins Auston Matthews and T.J. Brodie on the list of recent injuries in the short term. Along with that, Victor Mete is currently on long-term injured reserve, and Jake Muzzin and Nick Robertson are both likely out for the season.

The Leafs are currently second in the Atlantic Division with a 30-12-8 record. Despite the success, they are 12 points back of first place due to the incredible start that the Boston Bruins have had, and the Leafs seem destined to have a first-round rematch with the Tampa Bay Lightning.