Toronto Maple Leafs: Goalie Depth Chart Already a Concern

The Toronto Maple Leafs goalie depth chart is already challenged due to Matt Murray getting injured.

Realistically, the Toronto Maple Leafs management must have been fully aware of Matt Murray’s  injury history, and so they must be extremely high on Erik Kallgren and Ilya Samsonov.

After all, he has quite the significant injury history – there’s little doubt the medical team did due diligence, but it’s always got to be seen as a risk.

Indeed, it likely took nobody by surprise when the Maple Leafs announced that Murray had gotten injured a couple of days ago. Moving forward, it certainly will make things interesting.

However, let’s also keep in mind that NHL rules force teams to expose their third goalies to waivers (no team willingly keeps three goalies on the roster if they can help it) so it’s not like the Leafs could buy a ton of insurance and just chose not to.

Toronto Maple Leafs Hedging Bets With Ilya Samsonov

The Toronto Maple Leafs will find themselves needing to really ride out this time with Ilya Samsonov taking the majority of starts.

Murray’s injury history is probably a big reason Samsonov was wiling to sign here – since an opportunity to start was almost sure to present itself eventually.

Backing him up will be Erik Kallgren, who did alright when called upon last year – he’s going to provide a stable base but will be reliant on the defense to ensure he can steal the odd win.

In an ideal scenario, Erik Kallgren would be a fourth-choice option with a slightly more proven NHL/AHL tweener as the third-choice, but such is the current situation.  Also, given the unpredictability of non-star goalies, there is at least some mathematical reasoning to the Leafs strategy.

Perhaps the more concerning element of all this for the Toronto Maple Leafs is that they lack any real option if Kallgren or Samsonov were to also go down injured.  Then again, that’s what trades are for.

The Leafs were always going to at least be potentially in the market for a goalie in season.

In the best-case scenario, Joseph Woll would himself be healthy enough to step in as the backup if anything were to befall one of the current pairing, but he too is injured.

This leaves just Dennis Hildeby as a signed option, albeit one currently loaned to Farjestad BK in Sweden, meaning any recall there is going to require at least a days’ notice and will be a call-up of a completely unproven option.

This isn’t to say that there aren’t a couple of options on the Toronto Maple Leafs organisational depth chart.

The likes of Keith Petruzzelli and Dylan Ferguson (on a try-out contract) both expect to see time in the Toronto Marlies net and would be reasonable options to call upon as an NHL backup.

Beyond them, Dryden McKay and Luke Cavallin are the names on the Newfoundland Growlers roster right now and would likely be last resorts.

What we mustn’t overlook though is that the Maple Leafs, when they signed a contract for Zach Aston-Reese, took themselves to the maximum allowance of 50 standard player contracts.

To get any of the Marlies or Growlers goalies onto an NHL contract, another contract has to be moved out of the organisation and other teams around the league will know this.

You should fully expect asking prices to require the Toronto Maple Leafs to give up prospects or draft capital to move a player contract, should it come to that.

Perhaps it is a short-sighted decision knowing Murray’s injury history or perhaps it’s a calculated risk that the Toronto Maple Leafs took; either way, it’s bumpy ground to be walking on so early in the season.

While progressing your young talent up the ranks and onto the bench and perhaps even onto the ice with your NHL side is absolutely part of the process; it’s always a scary prospect when you’re talking goaltending.