Maple Leafs HC Sheldon Keefe: Matt Murray not quite ready to return

When the Toronto Maple Leafs elected to overhaul their goaltending group this offseason, the biggest question aside from rebound performances from Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov, would be health. 

Thus far, the team has seemingly received a positive answer when it comes to performance from both goaltenders, but health has been an issue. 

Murray found himself on LTIR with an abductor injury after just one game and last weekend, Samsonov found himself on IR with a knee injury suffered on a Brad Marchand penalty shot. 

After the emergency signing of AHL netminder Keith Petruzzelli, the team has relied on Erik Kallgren to shoulder the load while waiting for one of Murray or Samsonov to return.

Earlier Saturday, Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe provided a brief update on Murray when he spoke with the media, including The Toronto Sun’s Terry Koshan. 

Per Keefe, Murray is doing well physically and has even been cleared to play. However, Keefe says, Murray is not quite ready to return, with the organization’s performance team waiting to see a few more things before they believe he can return to game action. 

Although Murray’s return can’t come soon enough for Toronto, assuring the netminder is 100% ready for game action is key. Even if he’s completely healthy, as he appears to be, Murray has been out of game action for a month, a considerable amount of that time spent not receiving the daily work and repetition necessary to be a competitive NHL goaltender. 

Had Murray been rushed, Toronto might find itself with a healthy Murray, but not the one they need.

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