As the NHL season approaches, the Toronto Maple Leafs have started the process of finalizing their opening roster by placing two players on waivers. Goaltender Matt Murray and defenseman Marshall Rifai have both been placed on waivers as the team prepares for the upcoming season.
According to Sportsnet Hockey Insider Elliotte Friedman, Matt Murray is working toward a return after missing several months due to bilateral hip surgery. The intention is for Murray to remain with the organization, suggesting that placing him on waivers is a strategic move to facilitate a soft return in the American Hockey League before he rejoins the main roster.
Among the boatload of players on NHL waivers today are #leafs Marshall Rifai and Matt Murray, who is still working his way back from bilateral hip surgery that cost him last season.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) October 6, 2024
Matt Murray and Marshall Rifai (TOR) are on waivers…Murray continues to recover from injury, and goal is to stay
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) October 6, 2024
If Matt Murray goes unclaimed by any of the 31 other NHL teams, he is expected to practice with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. This would leave Joseph Woll and newly acquired Anthony Stolarz as the goaltending duo for the Leafs at the start of the season. However, the Marlies have a crowded goaltending situation, with young talents Denis Hildeby and Artur Akhtyamov competing for a larger role on the team’s roster.
Murray, who did not play in the NHL last season due to injury, only made three appearances in the AHL. He re-signed with Toronto for one year at $875K this past offseason after completing a four-year contract worth $6.25M annually, which he signed while with the Ottawa Senators. In the 2022-23 season, Murray posted a 14-8-2 record in 26 games for the Leafs, with a 3.01 goals-against average (GAA) and a .903 save percentage (SV%). The eight-year NHL veteran has won two Stanley Cup titles with the Pittsburgh Penguins, who drafted him in the third round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, and he also had a stint with Ottawa.
Defenseman Marshall Rifai, 26, played two games for the Leafs last season but spent most of the year in the AHL, where he recorded 2 goals, 17 assists, and 19 points over 57 games. Rifai signed a two-year contract extension with the Leafs this past September after initially joining the Marlies as a free agent following his NCAA career at Harvard in 2022. He signed an NHL contract with the Leafs a year later.
Additionally, five former Leafs were placed on waivers by their current teams today: Pierre Engvall (New York Islanders), James Reimer (Buffalo Sabres), Justin Holl and William Lagesson (Detroit Red Wings), and Zach Aston-Reese (Vegas Golden Knights).
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