Leafs facing possible worst-case scenario in goal; Murray, Kallgren injured and no goaltenders on NHL deals to step in
The Leafs came into this season with an abundance of goaltenders, possessing excellent depth within various levels of the organization and what was a position of possible weakness last season seemed like a position of strength in this one. Well, that was before injuries to Matt Murray and Erik Kallgren less than 24 hours apart.
Matt Murray left the Leafs' game day skate on Saturday, ahead of what was supposed to be his first start against his former team, the Ottawa Senators. Erik Kallgren was absolutely flattened during the Marlies' season opener in Rochester on Friday night. Now the Leafs have only Ilya Samsonov healthy and no goalies on an NHL contract eligible to back him up tonight.
Joseph Woll is still recovering from an injury that he suffered late last season and 2022 4th round draft pick Dennis Hildeby is currently playing in Sweden. The Leafs still have Dylan Ferguson, Keith Petruzzelli, Dryden McKay and Luke Cavallin within the organization, but none of these players is on an NHL deal and with the Leafs sitting at 50/50 contracts, there's no spot available to be able to sign any of them.
It's looking more and more likely that the Leafs will be forced to use an emergency backup goaltender tonight and then will have to try to address the issue on Sunday. One option is to continue to use an EBUG until one of Matt Murray or Erik Kallgren returns. Another option is to bring Hildeby back over from Sweden as quickly as possible in time for Monday's game against the Coyotes. The final option would be to move out a contract and sign one of their goaltenders to an NHL deal. Lots of questions and concern right now.
