Today however, Murray did not participate in the first 10 minutes of practice as he normally does. However, he was on the ice prior to practice beginning working with Leafs goalie coach Curtis Sanford. This has, of course, sent Leafs Nation into a bit of a frenzy, wondering whether Murray is dealing with something minor or if it's just load management.
It makes sense for the Leafs to give Murray the day off as he has played 6 games in the past 12 days and the Buds have a tough stretch coming up in their schedule. They play Tampa, Dallas, Calgary and the Rangers over the next two weeks, so they will rely on Murray heavily during that stretch if Samsonov is unable to return. In that sense, it's reasonable to assume that today's absence was for load management reasons.