Matt Murray's NHL Career In Jeopardy As Questions Surround His Future Emerge
Although Matt Murray made a miraculous comeback this year, it's not been the easiest start and there are questions about how long he can keep playing in the NHL.
After not having played in the NHL for 638 days, Matt Murray made his return this season and ended up victorious after battling through a bit of a shaky game. It was a great story of perseverance and showed how important the game means to him.
But his second start went pretty badly, and he looked a few steps behind and didn't seem to look comfortable in the crease, something the veteran alluded to in his post-game comments:
Could This Be The End For Matt Murray?
Murray, a two-time Stanley Cup winner with the Pittsburgh Penguins, has enjoyed both a fantastic career and a struggling one.
Exploding on the scene as a rookie, he helped backstop the Pens to back-to-back Stanley Cups and was poised to be the future after Marc-Andre Fleury.
But as quickly as he succeeded, he faltered. After leaving Pittsburgh he went to Ottawa and suffered some pretty bad seasons. Quickly falling off, Murray was acquired by the Maple Leafs in 2022 and helped them in a pinch, providing solid goaltending behind Ilya Samsonov and Joseph Woll.
Craig Berube had some sympathy for his veteran goaltender but also didn't mince words about his play, admiring his heart but acknowledging his weaknesses:
Toronto doesn't have many options either. Besides Woll, they can turn to Dennis Hildeby again however he hasn't done well this year.
Anthony Stolarz is still out for another month, so it's getting concerning very quickly.
There's a chance they could bring in rookie Artur Ahktyamov to help but he's still adjusting to the North American game and could be risky forcing him in.
It's a tough situation that the Maple Leafs need to figure out soon, because just as quickly as their goaltending brought them to the top; it can just as easily crumble and have the season crash down.
