Matt Murray to Make Toronto Maple Leafs Debut Tonight

The Toronto Maple Leafs invited 50 players to this year’s training camp.

The Toronto Maple Leafs will take on the Montreal Canadiens tonight, and they probably wish they invited 50 more, as in addition to the news yesterday that John Tavares has an injured oblique, Adam Gaudette was announced as having a shoulder injury.

It goes without saying that neither will play in tonight’s game .

The Leafs will take on the Habs with a record of 1-1, having split a weekend split-squad game with Ottawa.

The game’s on the weekend did not feature Matt Murray, and so he will make his Leafs debut tonight.

Toronto Maple Leafs and Matt Murray

I find the entire Matt Murray situation completely fascinating.

Everyone is so worried about it, and the Leafs are seen as taking this big risk, but the entire thing is done according to basic math.

The Leafs aren’t being revolutionary here, they’re just being smart.

When the first guy tried to tell people that the earth was round and not flat, people laughed. Today no one actually thinks the earth is flat, but we do use the idea as shorthand to mock the ignorant.

Maybe one day it will be the same for teams who think you should spend money on a namebrand goalie.

The Leafs looked at the data, saw the earth was a different shape than heretofore imagined, and so they traded for Matt Murray.

Matt Murray has 2 x Stanley Cup Rings.

Matt Murray is only 28 years old.

The Leafs were paid to take him, and did not spend assets to acquire him.

He requires only a short commitment.

That commitment is likely even shorter, because with his injury history, he can likely be shelved at any time without arousing suspicion.

So Murray gives the Leafs a ton of upside and flexibility. What else could you want in a goalie, when there are only two sure-fire goalies who exist in the entire world? (Connor Hellebuyck and Andrei Vasilevskiy).

The math says “don’t spend assets or give term to goalies” and the Leafs didn’t.  Once anomalies get worked out, the people/companies/teams that listen to the data always succeed – it’s just common sense.

Pretty much every team besides Tampa and Winnipeg is taking a bigger risk in net than the Toronto Maple Leafs are.

If Murray doesn’t work out, he’s gone and they look for another goalie.

They also have Ilya Samsonov as insurance.

In the NHL, the best players are the same every year.  The same can’t be said about goalies.  The best goalie tends to be worth more than the best player, but you never know who that will be.  It changes year to year.

Matt Murray could be out of the NHL by November, or he could win a Stanley Cup in May, or a Vezina Trophy in June.  All possibilities are equally likely. The only thing we know for sure is that, unable to acquire one of the few goalies worth having, the Leafs made the best mathematical decision.

Tonight is his debut with the Toronto Maple Leafs. I for one am excited to see how it goes.