After over a year and a half, it’s Matt Murray time once again in Toronto.
The Toronto Maple Leafs recalled the goaltender on Friday from the AHL Marlies. Murray has not suited up in an NHL game since April 2023.
Fellow goaltender Dennis Hildeby has been assigned to the Marlies.
The Leafs are down a goaltender with Anthony Stolarz injured. Toronto is in Buffalo to face the Sabres on Friday.
Murray, 30, has spent the start of the season with the Marlies. He’s played eight games and posted an impressive .931 save percentage and 1.85 goals-against average on the way to a 4-1-3 record.
The Thunder Bay, Ont. native won back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins in his first two years in the NHL. He recorded career-highs in save percentage (.930) and goals-against average (2.00) in his rookie season.
Since then, however, he’s struggled on and off with injuries and has not played more than 38 games in a season since 2018-19. He suffered a concussion at the end of the 2022-23 season, which sidelined him for the remainder of the year, and underwent hip surgery last off-season that kept him out of game action for most of the 2023-24 season.
Amid the injury to Maple Leafs starting netminder Stolarz, the team has been relying on Joseph Woll to carry the weight between the pipes. Hildeby was relied upon in a backup role, but given Murray’s strong performance in the minors this year — including a shutout on Wednesday night — the Leafs have tapped the veteran to help the team through their injury woes.
