Will Toronto Maple Leafs Buyout Matt Murray This Summer?

The Toronto Maple Leafs have a goaltending decision to make this summer. Matt Murray is under contract for one more season at $4.687 million, Joseph Woll has two more years left at $766,667, and Ilya Samsonov is a pending RFA. (Salary cap info from capfriendly.com)

Throughout the regular season, Samsonov has proven to be the Toronto Maple Leafs number-one goaltender.

Toronto will likely want to re-sign him, but he may want more then they are willing to pay, as it won’t be cheap with his stats from this season.

What happens with Murray is going to be interesting.

Toronto Maple Leafs Goaltending Future

The best thing to do is try and trade Murray.  If that doesn’t work, Toronto could use a buyout on the remaining year of Murray’s contract, but given his injury history, that is highly unlikely.

The team can’t afford two goaltenders making more than $4 million. Trading Murray without retaining any salary cap should be on Toronto’s to-do list.

For example, teams like the Arizona Coyotes and Buffalo Sabres might need Murray’s $4.687 million to help them reach the NHL’s salary cap floor. A buyout probably won’t even be under consideration because Matt Murray can be placed on the LTIR for virtually any reason.

A buyout of Matt Murray would be a relatively low-cost move for the Leafs next year. They would pay Murray $687,500 in 2023-24 , but then have to spend  $2 million in 2024-25 which is when they ‘ll have to pay Nylander and Matthews, so they may not want to do that.

Ilya Samsonov

Ilya Samsonov has a 26-10-5 record with four shutouts through 41 games played. He has earned a pay raise and will get one this summer. Hopefully, he will help the Maple Leafs make it beyond the first round of the NHL playoffs. Toronto will play Tampa in round one, which starts next week.
(Stats from hockey-reference.com)

A new contract for Samsonov could be for 4-5 years with a cap hit between $4 million and $5 million. He would be 30-31 years old when a deal like this ended. Toronto would have him as their starter for his prime years.

Joseph Woll

Joseph Woll has a 16-4-1 record with the Toronto Marlies with a 2.37 GAA and a .927 SV% through 21 games. He has a 4-1-0 record with the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 2.02 GAA and a .932 SV%. It is fair to say that Woll is having an impressive season. He is a big reason why the Toronto Marlies will finish the season first in the AHL’s North Division. (Stats from eliteprospects.com).

Toronto could have a high-quality backup goaltender for $766,667 over the next two seasons. I would be comfortable with a Samsonov and Woll tandem, and I think many Leafs fans would be too.