GM Brad Treliving discusses Maple Leafs' goaltending — and a possible return for Matt Murray

LOS ANGELES—As he addressed the troubling goaltending situation, tried to sound hopeful. He hoped could mentally "reset" enough to be recalled in a week, that rookie could get a chance to play. And Treliving was even optimistic about steady progress from hip surgery. The Leafs goaltending is a mess, with out with a high ankle sprain — and still no definitive timeline for his return — and the mental side of the game draining Samsonov.

“We know Ilya has gone through a difficult time,” said Treliving. “You either keep doing what you're doing, which is an option as you try to work through it. Or you do something different. I felt strongly that we had to do something different to help Ilya.” Though Samsonov is officially assigned to the AHL Marlies, he won't practise with them, or play for them.

Instead, he'll work with Marlies goaltending coach Hannu Toivonen and the organization's development staff to try to get his game back. “Really, it's a physical and mental reset,” said Treliving. “He can get away from preparing for the next game and all the pressures that come with it.” Treliving said he understands it was a bit extreme to put Samsonov on waivers, but it was necessary to get him away from the game.

“It was a little bit of a shock,” Treliving said of Samsonov's reaction. “(Athletes) are professionals, but they're humans, right? And nobody wants to succeed more than the player, whether it be Ilya or any other player. They want to have success. “So there was a little bit of shock, but when you walk him through it, he really understood.

We had a talk and we said: 'Here's a plan to help you. This isn't punishment.' We need to get him back to what he's capable of. And he wants to get there. If you knew exactly all the ways to fix things, you would do them. This is a plan to hopefully that's different than what we were doing and hopefully we think that he can benefit from it.” Veteran Martin Jones, who was the third stringer when the season began, got the call against the Los Angeles Kings as the Leafs started a California road trip on Tuesday.

Jones is likely to get the call again on Wednesday in Anaheim, though coach Sheldon Keefe and Treliving left the door open for rookie Dennis Hildeby to make his NHL debut. The Leafs are reticent to rush the Swedish Hildeby, a top prospect at 22 but in his first season in North America. “Circumstances dictated that we wanted to do this with Ilya, and the second part of that is Dennis has played well,” said Treliving.

“So now this allows us to see him with NHL shooters. You've got games back to back. It opens up potential options there. That'll be up to Sheldon (Keefe) and the coaching staff of how they manage that.” Keefe said much of it depends on how Jones feels after the game against the Kings.

As for outside help, Treliving didn't sound hopeful of a trade. “I checked outside, the goaltender tree was empty,” said Treliving. “I couldn't pick one off there. We'll see with a little bit of sun, maybe they'll grow a few more.” Samsonov's situation will be re evaluated after the Leafs come home from this trip that winds up Saturday in San Jose.

“This allows him to breathe a little bit for the week,” said Treliving. “Get him get him out of the environment that he was in, let him refocus, let him reset. And then when we get back, we'll see where we're at.” Meanwhile Murray — who was the No. 1 goalie at the start of last season — has been spotted around the team a lot more (though not on this trip).

He had double hip surgery on Oct. 9, with the prognosis that it would take at least six months to recover. That would be the start of April. He has skated without equipment. “He's doing well,” Treliving said of Murray. “It's a significant rehab. There's been no setbacks.

He's attacked it full steam. He hasn't done a goaltender skate, but sort of a public skate where he throws a sweatsuit on and wanders around the ice little bit. So that's good progression. He's still got a ways to go, but everything's been really positive.” Treliving declined to say whether Murray could be in their plans late in the season or in the post season.

“There's no pressure to get him going,” said Treliving. “When he's ready, he's ready. But that's off in the horizon.”.