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Leafs Reporter Reveals That Matt Murray's Latest Demotion Not About Managing Waiver Exemption
Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
Matt Murray was recently sent back to the Toronto Marlies by the Maple Leafs, and according to a report, his demotion was not about prolonging his waiver exempt status this time.
Coming into this season having re-signed Matt Murray to a 1-year "prove it" deal, nobody knew what to expect from the 30-year-old, who was just coming back from bi-lateral hip surgery after a very long layoff.
Murray had actually played quite well with the Toronto Marlies after beginning his season in the American Hockey League. His 4 wins, 1.85 GAA and .931 SV% were the best on the team at the time of his NHL recall.
However, after picking up a win in his first game back in 628 days, Murray was once again sent down to the Marlies, with the reporting surrounding the demotion focusing on his waiver exempt status.
Murray was allowed to move freely between the NHL roster and the AHL roster for 10 games or 30 days in the NHL, whichever occurs first. Knowing this, it was pretty clear why he was being sent back down at the time.
When Murray was recalled ahead of his last start against Washington and subsequently returned to the Marlies following the loss, there was some speculation that he would be back up for another start this week. However, according to David Alter of The Hockey News, that doesn't appear to be the case.
While appearing on TSN 1050's First Up, Alter revealed that he believes that Dennis Hildeby is now more than likely going to continue on as the team's backup until Anthony Stolarz is ready to return.
When asked about Hildeby as the team's 3rd goalie behind Stolarz and Joseph Woll, here's what Alter had to say in response to the question:
"I would think so, AK -- I believe that we've got to that point now where the Matt Murray [experiement], it was a feel-good story when he came back. They really wanted to see what he could do and he got a win, and that was good, but there were some concerns in the game. Just the fact that he have two goals scored that were disallowed. Going into that second game, he has that first goal squeak right through him. There's a another goal that he would probably want back, and he just looked like a guy who could use a little bit more, in terms of seasoning and reps... This is an opportunity for Murray to get some more games, see if he can improve his game [and] maybe get one more opportunity. But, I think for now, Dennis Hildeby, on the depth chart, behind Stolarz and Woll, is number 3 going forward."
Stolarz found himself on the shelf and in need of a surgical procedure earlier this month, which has him out of action for a total of 4-6 weeks, which has put the Leafs in a really tough spot.
Woll, for the most part, has played well, but it's clear that the team's number one option is Stolarz and that with him out of the lineup, there's a little less room for error out on the ice.
The Leafs have a back-to-back coming up this weekend, so it will be interesting to see whether it's Woll and Hildeby or Woll and Murray for that pair of games on Saturday and Sunday. If Alter's reporting is accurate, we should see Hildeby get one of those 2 starts.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 31 | 2551 ANSWERS Leafs Reporter Reveals That Matt Murray's Latest Demotion Not About Managing Waiver Exemption Is Dennis Hildeby a better option than Matt Murray for the Leafs at this point? | ||
| Yes | 2155 | 84.5 % |
| No | 396 | 15.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
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