Rumor: Leafs have odd man out, trade coming?

With the Toronto Maple Leafs slowly getting back to full health, something's got to give. 

Yesterday the team activated goaltender Joseph Woll off of injured reserve and demoted defenseman Max Lajoie to the AHL's Toronto Marlies. Veterans Kalle Jarnkrok and Mark Giordano both returned to practice, as well and their return to the lineup looks imminent. So... what happens?

NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reported yesterday that the team is likely to carry three goaltenders (Woll, Ilya Samsonov and Martin Jones) for the time being and that a forward is likely to be dumped on waivers and/or shipped to the AHL. Judging by lines at practice, it appears that that odd man out is Noah Gregor.

All of this points to Gregor being the odd man out in Toronto.

Read below for our earlier report on goaltender Matt Murray from yesterday afternoon.

Earlier today Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe announced that injured goaltender Matt Murray is back on the ice and progressing towards a return this season. 

Murray, of course, has been out since undergoing hip surgery in October and it was announced that he would miss the entire season. The team has been getting by in goal despite injuries to Joseph Woll and inconsistent play from Ilya Samsonov and Martin Jones. Needless to say, getting Murray back in the lineup could prove disruptive to a team that has not dealt very well with disruptions in the crease. 

Stay tuned because there could be a real 'crease controversy' in Toronto come April.

Read below for our earlier report on this developing story.

The Toronto Maple Leafs may have a bit of a problem on their hands.

In a surprise announcement on Monday, Sheldon Keefe revealed that veteran goaltender Matt Murray is working his way back from the hip surgery he had back in October. In fact Keefe revealed that Murray has been working out and has even been facing live shots in a bid to get himself back into game shape.

This could of course prove to be a major headache for the Maple Leafs moving forward given that Murray's cap hit of $4.687 million is currently buried on long-term injured reserve. Should Murray return from injury, the Maple Leafs would have to find a way to make the dollars work against the cap, much easier said than done.

That being said there has been no indication as of yet that Murray will return this season, although the timeline that was established following his surgery does suggest it is possible. At the time Murray's surgery was announced, the Leafs expected him to miss anywhere from 6-8 months of action.

The lower end of that projection, six months, could see Murray return sometime in the month of March. That would of course still very much be within the timeline of the 2023-24 National Hockey League regular season and could cause problems for the Leafs.

The Maple Leafs no doubt have some plan in place in the event of Murray's return, but I suspect it is a situation they would prefer to avoid entirely.