NHL insider provides update on NHL's potential investigation into Matt Murray being placed on LTIR
Earlier this summer, the Toronto Maple Leafs made the announcement that they were placing Matt Murray on long-term injured reserve. The expectation is that Murray will miss the entire season. This came as a surprise to fans as Murray was available for Game 5 of the Maple Leafs series against the Florida Panthers.
Fans wondered what happened between Game 5 and now. During Game 5, Murray was on the bench and ready to backup, so what happened? Both the Leafs and Murray have been tight lipped.
Multiple people around the NHL called for an investigation into this matter. With the abuse of long-term injured reserve increasing there were serious questions. James Mirtle of The Athletic reached out to the NHL on this matter and received the following answer:
The Leafs aren't saying anything about Murray and where he's athis camp isn't saying anything as well. It reminds me a bit of the Joffrey Lupul situation. The guy goes away, they say he's hurt and they spend the $4.6M they gained from it and we'll see if Murray tries to make a comeback a year from now
I reached out and talked to the league and said "are you looking at this?" And they basically said teams have to file medical documentation when someone is placed on LTIR, there's really only an investigation if the league thinks there's something funny there.
The last I heardthe league wasn't doing any kind of investigation. The thing agents and teams have said over the years is that most guys that have been in the NHL 8-10 years the way Murray had and have had as many injuries as he has it's not that hard to find an injury to point to and say this guy shouldn't be playing.
I reached out and talked to the league and said "are you looking at this?" And they basically said teams have to file medical documentation when someone is placed on LTIR, there's really only an investigation if the league thinks there's something funny there.
The last I heardthe league wasn't doing any kind of investigation. The thing agents and teams have said over the years is that most guys that have been in the NHL 8-10 years the way Murray had and have had as many injuries as he has it's not that hard to find an injury to point to and say this guy shouldn't be playing.
It's clear that at this point the NHL has no interest in investigating the Matt Murray situation. It's nice to know that people like James Mirtle are asking these difficult questions of the league. The only way we will see a change to LTIR abuse is if teams are held accountable.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 6 | 205 ANSWERS NHL insider provides update on NHL's potential investigation into Matt Murray being placed on LTIR Is Matt Murray legitimately injured? | ||
| No, they're scamming the system | 94 | 45.9 % |
| He's probably injured | 36 | 17.6 % |
| He's definitely hurt | 27 | 13.2 % |
| Who cares? Get rid of the cap | 48 | 23.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
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