Four goals against on 23 shots in his Maple Leafs debut immediately followed by an injury landing him on Long Term Injured Reserve is just about the worst-case scenario for goaltender Matt Murray and the Maple Leafs, but such is the situation that’s played out in the opening week of the regular season.
The @MapleLeafs have placed G Matt Murray on long-term injured reserve. He is expected to miss a minimum of four weeks (adductor injury).
G Erik Källgren has been recalled from the @TorontoMarlies on an emergency basis.
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) October 15, 2022
A groin injury sustained in the morning skate prior to his second scheduled start against his former team, the Senators — whose coach DJ Smith on Friday mentioned the incessant injuries as Murray’s biggest problem plaguing his time in Ottawa — will keep Murray out for a month. Erik Källgren, who started 13 games for the Leafs last season (8-4-1, .888 save percentage), has been recalled to back up behind Ilya Samsonov.
Matt, unfortunately here, was just injured all the time. Take nothing away from him. He was just hurt all the time. He had a lot of bad luck.
– DJ Smith on Matt Murray’s Senators tenure
The Leafs were granted the opportunity to bring Murray to Toronto and give him a rigorous health screening with their medical team before executing the trade with Ottawa, Murray spent the offseason healthy and training at the Leafs‘ facilities, and yet here we are again one game into the season. The injury rap sheet was always the bigger half of the story than even his drop-off in his numbers over the last three tumultuous seasons, and it’s come home to roost here again.
Matt Murray’s injury history since January 1, 2021
| DATE | INJURY |
|---|---|
| 10/15/22 | Groin |
| 3/10/22 | Neck |
| 2/15/22 | Undisclosed |
| 11/11/21 | COVID-19 |
| 10/23/21 | Head |
| 10/15/21 | Illness |
| 4/26/21 | Lower Body |
| 2/13/21 | Upper body |
Ilya Samsonov has both a big test and a big opportunity in front of him now to take the crease and run with it, but Källgren will also be called upon in a busy upcoming stretch of games. The Leafs will play every other day on average for the rest of the month, including a back-to-back on the California road trip on Oct. 29 and 30. There are also a back-to-backs on tap for Nov. 5 and Nov. 6 against Boston and Carolina as well as Nov. 11 and Nov. 12 against Pittsburgh and Vancouver.
A true test of the Maple Leafs‘ goaltending depth has arrived even earlier than anticipated.
