A large factor in Murphy's treatment by Maple Leaf fans seemed to stem from the fact that they were rather ignorant of what kind of player he was before he arrived in Toronto despite the fact that he was a well regarded veteran player with a fifteen year career.
The Maple Leafs got bounced from the 1995 playoffs by a Chicago team that featured both Gary Suter and Chris Chelios who logged major minutes and proved to be a significant factor in the series.
Shortly after, Cliff Fletcher acquired Larry Murphy and in the introductory press conference referenced the Chicago series and the two aforementioned blue liners.
While Murphy was skilled offensive blue liner, and a guy that ate up major minutes, much like Chelios and Suter, he was a very different player. Chelios and Suter both played with a mean streak, excelled at hard nose hockey and were very competitive players. That wasn't Murphy at all and instead of being appreciated for what he was, he was endlessly criticized for what he wasn't.
Additionally, the timing of his acquisition hurt him as well. The 1992-93 and 1993-94 squads had made it to the Conference Final but the '95 team fell to Chicago but instead of acknowledging that the team was in decline (many key players from those conference final teams were older veterans like Doug Gilmour, Jamie Macoun, Bob Rouse, Dave Ellett and other older guys had been acquired, like Murphy, Kirk Muller, Sergio Momesso and Wendel Clark's return) Fletcher went out and added another greying veteran to "go for it." Felix Potvin also got worse each year he played in the league and by the time Murphy arrived, the team wasn't getting consistent goaltending from him. The fan base thought the team was still a contender, but they definitely were not and as a high paid veteran that had no connection to the teams that had done well in '93 and '94, Murphy became the lightning rod for their frustrations.