Two Maple Leafs have been placed on waivers including Matt Murray
As teams begin placing players on waivers with the NHL season nearby, Toronto has started their process of moving around players to set their opening roster, with Toronto placing two players on waivers.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have placed Goaltender Matt Murray & Defenseman Marshall Rifai on waivers as the season draws close to it's opening.
According to Sportsnet Hockey Insider Elliotte Friedman, Murray is continuing to work towards a return after missing months due to needing Bilateral Hip Surgery. The goal is for Murray to stay, which leads to the assumption that the move is setting up a soft return in the American Hockey League for Murray before re-joining the main club.
If he is not claimed by any of the 31 other NHL teams, Murray will likely get practice with the AHL Toronto Marlies, leaving Joseph Woll & newly acquired Anthony Stolarz to be the tandem duo for the Leafs to start the year, although the Marlies face a crowded net with young talents in Denis Hildeby & Artur Akhtyamov vying for a bigger role with the Leafs top farm team.
Murray, who had not played in the NHL last season due to injury had just 3 games in the AHL. Murray re-signed with Toronto for one year this past offseason at $875K after coming off a four year contract worth $6.25M annually, signed while Murray was still a member of the Ottawa Senators.
In 2022-23, Murray had a 14-8-2 record with Toronto in 26 games with a 3.01GAA and a .903SV%. Murray is an eight-year NHL veteran who won two Stanley Cup titles as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins, who drafted him in the third round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, and also played for Ottawa.
Rifai, 26, had played in two games for the Leafs last season, spending a majority of the year in the AHL, having played in 57 games with 2 goals, 17 assists & 19 points for the defensive defenseman. Rifai signed a two-year contract extension with the Leafs this past September. Rifai originally signed with the Marlies as a free agent after his NCAA career with Harvard in 2022, before signing an NHL contract with the Leafs a year later.
Five former Leafs were also placed on waivers today by their respective teams, Pierre Engvall of the New York Islanders, James Reimer of the Buffalo Sabres, Justin Holl and William Lagesson of the Detroit Red Wings, and Zach Aston-Reese of the Vegas Golden Knights.
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