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An Unlikely Option For The Maple Leafs

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Nick Kypreos of Sportsnet wrote a column for the Toronto Star wondering if the Toronto Maple Leafs might place captain Auston Matthews on long-term injured reserve later this season if his injury concerns continue. The 27-year-old hasn’t played since December 20th and has dealt with a nagging upper-body injury since the start of the season. Currently, he has no return date set, which adds to the speculation surrounding his health.

If Toronto were to place Matthews on LTIR, it would open up $13.25MM in cap space, and Kypreos wonders if Toronto might use that room under the salary cap to chase another top center. Toronto would only be able to do so if Matthews missed the remainder of the regular season, but it would not be unprecedented as the Tampa Bay Lightning had a similar situation in 2021 with star forward Nikita Kucherov when he didn’t play a single game during a shortened regular season and returned for the playoffs.

A move like that for Toronto would give them a huge boost for the playoffs and perhaps take some pressure off Matthews when he returns. It could also allow Toronto an opportunity to address their top defensive pairing, as they haven’t been able to give Morgan Reilly a steady defensive partner this season. The Maple Leafs started the year with Chris Tanev on the top pairing, but he has since moved to the second pairing and formed a very formidable unit with Jake McCabe.

While a move like that would give Toronto a boost, it would be a tough sell for Matthews who is set to lead Team USA into the 4 Nations Face-Off next month. His participation in the tournament is contingent on his health, but it will be a huge concern for the Maple Leafs if he returns before the tournament and reaggravates the injury once again.

Things are never boring when it comes to the Maple Leafs and the uncertainty around Matthews, as well as a team that is desperate for some semblance of playoff success should make for an interesting few months in Toronto.

Maple Leafs Notes: Matthews, Ekman-Larsson, Hakanpaa

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Toronto Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews has not been ruled out of a return to the lineup this weekend (as per Dave McCarthy of NHL.com). Matthews practiced again today, the second time he has done so since he reaggravated an upper-body injury that kept him out of the lineup for nine games in November.

The 27-year-old has been dealing with the injury since training camp that flared up again in a game against Buffalo on December 20th and will miss a sixth straight game tomorrow night. The Maple Leafs would like Matthews to get one more practice in before he plays again, but Toronto will not practice on Friday. The Maple Leafs play this weekend against Boston on Saturday and Philadelphia on Sunday, so it does remain an outside possibility that Matthew rejoins the team for one of those games.

In other Toronto Maple Leafs notes:

  • Maple Leafs defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson is expected to return to Toronto’s lineup tomorrow night (as per Joshua Kloke of The Athletic). Ekman-Larsson has been dealing with an illness but practiced today with the team, skating on the third pairing alongside Simon Benoit. He missed last night’s game against the Islanders but has dressed in 37 games this season, posting a goal and 12 assists. If the 33-year-old is good to go for tomorrow, it seems likely that Conor Timmins will come out of the lineup.
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs have moved defenseman Jani Hakanpaa to the LTIR which means the team will gain $1.47MM in cap space (as per PuckPedia). The 32-year-old has dressed in just two NHL games this season, registering a single hit along with four blocked shots. Hakanpaa has been skating, but last night’s game was the 19th game in a row that he missed. The move could be short-lived given that he did skate before practice today, however, the Maple Leafs are likely to be cautious before any potential return.

Morning Notes: Hughes, Pettersson, Murray, Skinner

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Exactly how much longer the Canucks will remain without stars Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson remains to be seen. The club certainly won’t have their services for this week’s intra-division road trip, though, head coach Rick Tocchet told Jeff Paterson of CanucksArmy.

Pettersson’s return is more imminent than Hughes’, Tocchet said. Pettersson hasn’t been ruled out for Friday’s home game against the Predators, but a return on Monday in Montreal seems more likely, with Tocchet saying Pettersson will likely miss another week. Hughes’ timeline is muddier. After missing Saturday’s overtime loss to the Kraken with an undisclosed injury, he’s been labeled week to week and could likely miss another five games at a minimum.

The latter’s absence is an especially tough one to swallow for the Canucks, who have won one out of their last five games and are already missing their No. 2 defenseman, Filip Hronek, for another few weeks. Hughes has easily been their most valuable player this season, leading the club in scoring with 42 points (8 G, 34 A) in 34 games and ranking second among NHL defensemen in points behind the Avalanche’s Cale Makar. He’s averaging 25:08 per game and posting better offensive and defensive possession metrics at even strength than last season’s Norris Trophy-winning campaign.

Hughes missing action wouldn’t be so awful if Vancouver had their second-best offensive producer this season. But they won’t have Pettersson, who has 10 goals and 28 points through 34 appearances, for the time being, either. Like Hughes, the 26-year-old has only missed one game with an undisclosed injury so far.

More from across the league this morning:

  • The Maple Leafs have continued to shuffle NHL backup options in the absence of emergent No. 1 Anthony Stolarz. Veteran Matt Murray has been returned to AHL Toronto with Dennis Hildeby coming up to take his place for the time being, the team announced. Murray, 30, has allowed seven goals on 58 shots faced in two starts this month while sitting behind Joseph Woll on the depth chart, his first NHL action since the end of the 2022-23 regular season. In a small sample size, that tracks as a career-worst .879 SV% and 3.54 GAA for the two-time Stanley Cup champion. Hildeby’s NHL numbers this season haven’t been any better with a .875 SV% in three starts, but he does have a .916 SV% in his last four minor-league contests. It’s unclear if this is a paper move to extend Murray’s waiver-exempt period or if the Leafs intend on rostering Hildeby for tomorrow’s matinee game against the Islanders.
  • Oilers winger Jeff Skinner sat in the press box while healthy for the first time in a while yesterday as Edmonton was upset 5-3 by the Ducks. It was a foreseeable result, writes Sportsnet’s Mark Spector. Skinner had no points and a -4 rating in his five most recent outings, and the 32-year-old has been an overall disappointment with only six goals and 12 points in 35 games after signing a one-year, $3MM pact with the Oilers following a buyout by the Sabres. He’s now averaging 12:58 per game on the year, the lowest usage of his 15-year NHL career, and his 48.6% shot-attempt share at 5-on-5 is also a career low.

Matthews To Miss Next Two Games

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The Maple Leafs will be without captain Auston Matthews for at least the next two games, mentions Nick Barden of The Hockey News.  The 27-year-old has missed the last two contests due to an upper-body injury that has lingered throughout the season.  When healthy, he has been productive with 11 goals and 12 assists in 24 games although that output is below his usual level.  Head coach Craig Berube did note that Matthews is getting better which is a positive sign although given how long this injury has lingered, it’s fair to suggest that it’s something the center will be dealing with at times throughout the rest of the season.

Maple Leafs Recall Matt Murray, Reassign Dennis Hildeby

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Dec. 26: Murray will get another crack at NHL minutes in the coming days. The team announced Thursday that he’s back on the roster with Hildeby heading back to the minors, indicating that he’ll start either tomorrow against the Red Wings or Saturday against the Capitals.

Dec. 21: Matt Murray’s return to the NHL was short-lived, at least for now.  The Maple Leafs announced (Twitter link) that they’ve returned Murray to AHL Toronto while recalling netminder Dennis Hildeby.

Murray made his first NHL start in more than 600 days on Friday in Buffalo where he turned aside 24 of 27 shots in the win.  The 30-year-old also has a 1.85 GAA and a .939 SV% in eight appearances with the Marlies.

This demotion isn’t a performance-based one but one that appears to be made with waivers in mind.  Murray cleared waivers in training camp and thus is waiver-exempt until he either plays ten NHL games or is up with the big club for 30 days.  With the holiday break approaching and Joseph Woll likely to start their remaining two games before then, it then makes sense to send Murray down and stop the clock on the number of days he’s up.  With Anthony Stolarz out for four-to-six weeks, Murray would almost certainly become waiver-eligible again if he stayed up the full length of Stolarz’s absence.

As for Hildeby, he has won two of his three NHL starts this season and conceivably could get some work in with Stolarz out as well though he’s likely to be flipped with Murray again before too long.  The 23-year-old also has played six times for the Marlies, posting a 2.73 GAA with a .895 SV%, numbers that are well down from the 2.41 GAA and .913 SV% he had in 41 outings in 2023-24.

Matthews Won't Play Tonight, Questionable For Saturday

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The Maple Leafs will be without top center Auston Matthews tonight against the Islanders, reports Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic (Twitter link).  Matthews is believed to have re-aggravated the upper-body injury that kept him out for several games last month, one that continues to linger.  Despite playing at less than full health, Matthews has been quite productive when he has been in the lineup, notching 11 goals and 12 assists through 24 outings while averaging over 20 minutes a night for the sixth straight season.  Johnston adds that Matthews is listed as questionable for Monday’s contest against Winnipeg but with the break coming up after that, it might make more sense for them to shut Matthews down for that game and give him more time to heal.

Maple Leafs Notes: Matthews, Tavares, Shaw

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Toronto Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews is still feeling the effects of the upper-body injury that sidelined him for nine games earlier this season, head coach Craig Berube told Sportsnet’s Luke Fox. Berube shared that Matthews is fighting through the ailment and that the team is managing his load while he returns to full health. No injury specifics were provided, and Berube didn’t seem to suggest Matthews would need to miss any additional time.

Matthews may not look as fluid as normal, but he’s certainly appearing on the scoresheet all the same. He’s recorded points in all but two games since returning on November 30th – totaling five goals and 11 points, good for second on the team in both categories. The hot return slots Matthews in at fourth on the Leafs in scoring on the year, and third on the team in points-per-game, with 22 points in 23 games this season. Digging even deeper, Matthews’ goal in Toronto’s December 14th win over Detroit was his 50th of calendar year 2024. He’s now totaled at least 50 goals in each of the last four calendar years – making him the ninth player in league history to achieve such a feat. The record for that category is split between Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy, who each managed the feat in seven straight years, per Rotowire.

In additional Maple Leafs news, former captain John Tavares is hoping to sign an extension with the club, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on the latest 32 Thoughts podcast. Friedman pointed out how Tavares’ has adjusted to new head coach Berube as a big contributor to the veteran wanting to stay. Tavares’ last contract negotiations with Toronto were legendarily contentious. He signed a seven-year, $77MM deal with the club on July 1st, 2018.

It was one of the league’s priciest contracts at the time, and more notably pulled Tavares away from the New York Islanders, where he spent the prior nine seasons. Tavares was a star with the Islanders, posting 621 points across 779 games with the club and even earning their captaincy. The Ontario native has since become vilified by Long Island hockey fans, though he’s continued to score at an incredible rate with the Leafs. Tavares has 448 points in 471 games in Toronto, including a career-high 88 points scored in 2018-19 – his first year with the club. A new deal will likely come with a significant decrease in pay – especially with Mitch Marner’s extension looming – but Tavares is still likely to be paid handsomely for his production out of a middle-six role. He ranks third on the 2024-25 Leafs in scoring, with 29 points in 31 games, despite averaging the least ice time of any of the top six scoring leaders.

Continuing updates for Toronto captains, the AHL’s Toronto Marlies have signed forward Logan Shaw to a two-year contract extension. Shaw has been the Marlies’ captain for the last three seasons, after serving two years as the Belleville Senators ’C’. He’s been fantastically productive with the Marlies, totaling 144 points in 160 games with the club. That includes Shaw’s 17 points in 23 games this season, which ranks third on the minor-Toronto in scoring. The new deal will take Shaw through his age-34 season, and his 14th professional season.

Maple Leafs Recall Matt Murray

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Dec. 20: The Maple Leafs made the transaction official today, bringing Murray up and returning Hildeby to the AHL. It’s still unclear whether head coach Craig Berube plans on starting Murray tonight against Buffalo.

Dec. 19: Two-time Stanley Cup champion Matt Murray is expected to join the Maple Leafs’ roster ahead of tomorrow’s game against the Sabres, reports Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. If he makes the start for Toronto, it’ll be his first start in the blue and white since April 2, 2023.

Toronto is without No. 1 option Anthony Stolarz for the next four to six weeks after he underwent a procedure to remove a loose body in his knee. He hasn’t played since Dec. 12 against the Ducks, and Dennis Hildeby has been on the roster ever since as an emergency recall from AHL Toronto to back up Joseph Woll. Hildeby has made three starts this season in relief of injuries to Stolarz and Woll but hasn’t been all that impressive, going 2-1-0 but logging a .875 SV% and 3.68 GAA.

That’s led the Leafs to look for a more secure option to back up Woll for now. They may have that in Murray, who’s been tormented by injuries as of late but does at least have a prior pedigree as a legitimate NHL option. The 30-year-old didn’t play at all last season aside from a brief AHL conditioning stint at year’s end after hip surgery in the summer of 2023. Now healthy, he re-upped with the Leafs on a one-year deal worth $875K at the beginning of free agency and cleared waivers during training camp.

He’s looked rejuvenated in minor-league action, posting a sparkling .931 SV% and 1.85 GAA in eight appearances with a 4-1-3 record. He’s coming off a 27-save shutout of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins last night, so he’d have a day of rest if he plays tomorrow in the first half of the Leafs’ back-to-back. If not against Buffalo, it’s clear he’ll make his season debut on Saturday against the Islanders.

Murray arrived in Toronto in the 2022 offseason, acquired from the Senators in a cap-dump deal to serve in tandem with Ilya Samsonov as the replacement for ex-starter Jack Campbell, who left for the Oilers in free agency. Injuries limited him to 26 starts in 2022-23, although he was serviceable when healthy with a .903 SV%, 3.01 GAA, and a 14-8-2 record. That was good enough for one goal saved above expected, per MoneyPuck, so his most recent NHL experience positions him as an above-average netminder. That can’t be said for the much younger Hildeby.

Murray, who started most games for the Penguins in their back-to-back Stanley Cup wins in 2016 and 2017, has a .910 SV% and 2.79 GAA in 272 career NHL appearances. His recall would necessitate Hildeby heading back to the AHL to keep the Leafs’ active roster at 23 players.

Maple Leafs Reassign Fraser Minten, Activate David Kampf

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4:00 PM: Toronto has used the open space created by Minten’s assignment to activate center David Kampf off of long-term injured reserve. Kampf has missed Toronto’s last 12 games with a lower-body injury. He’s expected to return to the lineup when the Leafs face Dallas on Wednesday, per NHL.com’s Dave McCarthy. Kampf will hope a return to full health brings a wave of production, as he currently sits with just three assists in 18 games this season.

8:30 AM: The Leafs have reassigned center prospect Fraser Minten to AHL Toronto, per the team’s media relations department. Minten was a healthy scratch in Sunday’s win over the Sabres after playing in 11 straight contests since a mid-November call-up. He’s still 145 games played or three seasons away from requiring waivers.

A consistent point producer during his time in major junior play, the 20-year-old Minten entered the 2024-25 campaign with the guarantee he’d be playing professional hockey regardless of whether he made Toronto’s roster out of camp. Unfortunately, a high ankle sprain he sustained in rookie camp sidelined him for nearly six weeks and erased any hope of cracking the Maple Leafs’ opening night roster for the second season in a row. The 2022 second-round pick played four games last season, going without a point, before being returned to the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers by the end of October.

Minten’s season got off to a strong start in the AHL after being cleared to return from his ankle injury on Oct. 29. He recorded two goals and two assists in his first five minor-league games before a cascading injury situation among Toronto’s NHL forward group necessitated his recall. Fortunately, his second crack at NHL minutes went better than his first. Minten routinely centered the Leafs’ third line, posting a pair of goals and assists for four points through 11 games with an even rating. The physical 6’1″, 185-lb center recorded 13.22 hits per 60 minutes, fifth on the Leafs this season, and averaged 12:47 per game while winning 45.1% of his draws.

Decent as those numbers are, Minten’s two-way game needs some work. The Maple Leafs controlled only 41.6% of shot attempts with Minten on the ice at 5-on-5, the worst of any player with at least 10 appearances in blue and white this season. He’ll continue adapting his defensive awareness to the professional level in the AHL, where he’ll likely spend most of the remainder of the season before making himself a serious contender for an opening-night job in October 2025.

Maple Leafs’ Anthony Stolarz To Undergo Knee Procedure, Out 4-6 Weeks

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Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz will undergo a minor procedure to remove a loose body in his knee, general manager Brad Treliving told reporters Tuesday (via TSN). As a result, Toronto’s starter will miss the next four to six weeks.

Treliving said Stolarz underwent an MRI in the last few days, which revealed no other structural damage. He left his most recent start, an eventual win over the Ducks on Dec. 12, with a lower-body injury after the first period. He’s already missed two games but will now miss around 15 more, with a return in mid-to-late January on the horizon.

It’s worse news than the Leafs expected when they initially awarded him a day-to-day designation and placed him on injured reserve, assuming he wouldn’t miss more than the minimum seven days required for an IR placement. Nonetheless, undergoing surgery now and dealing with a lengthy mid-season absence is far preferable to a snowballing injury that forces him to miss extended time closer to the postseason.

Unfortunately, Stolarz is no stranger to significant knee injuries. He missed most of the 2017-18 campaign while in the Flyers system after undergoing knee surgery during training camp, and another knee surgery ended his 2022-23 campaign with the Ducks in February.

Luckily, that hasn’t stopped Stolarz from becoming an elite tandem/backup option when healthy. His .927 SV% in 17 games with Toronto this season has him on pace to lead qualifying netminders in the statistic for the second season in a row. He posted a .925 SV% and 2.03 GAA, both league-best marks, in 27 games with the Panthers last year while backing up Sergei Bobrovsky. His 24 starts last season were a career-high, though, so despite his high-end numbers, there was understandable hesitance to crown him a starting-caliber netminder upon reaching free agency last summer. The Maple Leafs presented a good fit for him to split the workload with the up-and-coming Joseph Woll. He inked a two-year, $5MM contract to play in Canada for the first time since a short stint with the Oilers in 2019.

Toronto has had quite the revolving door of netminders over the past few seasons. Stolarz is one of eight since the beginning of the 2021-22 season to make at least 10 starts for the team, joining Woll, Ilya Samsonov, Jack Campbell, Matt Murray, Erik Källgren, Martin Jones, and Petr Mrázek. He’s put up the best numbers of any of them by a wide margin and is on pace to log the highest save percentage for a Toronto netminder since Curtis McElhinney had a .934 in 18 games in 2017-18.

The Leafs are left with Woll and Dennis Hildeby between the pipes for the next few weeks. Woll has also played well when dressed, posting an 8-4-0 record with a .918 SV%, 2.24 GAA and one shutout in 12 showings. He’s saved 5.9 goals above expected, per MoneyPuck, ranking 12th in the league. He also has a lengthy injury history, though, and Hildeby isn’t a compelling No. 3 option. The big 23-year-old Swede has made three starts this season amid injuries to Stolarz and Woll, the first of his NHL career. He’s been serviceable but unimpressive, with a .875 SV% and 3.68 GAA. He also has a subpar .897 mark in six AHL starts this year.

It’s worth noting that the Maple Leafs still have Murray in the system if Hildeby falters. The 30-year-old missed nearly all last season after offseason hip surgery but has been good in the AHL in 2024-25 since clearing waivers, logging a .919 SV% and 2.15 GAA with a 3-1-3 record. If he comes up and gets a start, it would be the first for the two-time Stanley Cup champion since April 2, 2023.

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