Matt Murray Now on the Other Side of Ontario
Matt Murray will be suiting up in a new arena this season! The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired the former Stanley Cup winner from the Ottawa Senators along with two draft picks for future considerations. It will be a short move for the Murray’s this summer as he will now be on the blue side of the Battle of Ontario.
Is This the Right Fresh Start?
Matt Murray has had a very up-and-down career. After exploding on the scene and winning two Stanley Cups by his 23rd birthday, the former Penguins netminder has seen the pendulum swing in the opposite direction. He hasn’t had a winning season as a starter since his last season in Pittsburgh. He hasn’t had a save percentage above 91% since 2019. The lowest goals-against average in his career was an even two-per-game in his first season. However, Kyle Dubas is banking on his postseason performance. The Thunder Bay, Ontario native became the youngest starting goalie since Patrick Roy to win the Stanley Cup in 2016. His stats are visibly better in the playoffs compared to the regular season. It’s a gamble, but we have seen Dubas bet on this core time and time again. The result? Zero playoff series wins.
Is This The Right Trade?
Regardless, I would be scratching my head at this trade if I were a Leafs fan. It would be better to have a more proven commodity in goal rather than the wildly inconsistent Murray. Furthermore, you have to feel bad for the guy. After appearing to be the next big thing for the Penguins, he had trouble putting it together. Then, he gets shipped to Ottawa. He plays behind a lottery team for a few seasons and looks worse. Now, he has to turn his play around for the hockey-crazed fans and media in Toronto. It’s a tall order however you look at it.
And helping your rivals out by taking on $4,687,500 of his $6,250,000 cap hit, regardless of the draft compensation, is confusing. Is he really an improvement over Mrazek or Campbell? The answer right now is leaning towards no. However, you never know. Murray will be playing with a better team in front of him, so true judgments could be made once the puck is dropped.
It’s still a very long road ahead this summer. Replacing Petr Mrazek and the (presumably) departing Jack Campbell with Murray only ticks one box for Toronto’s offseason. Their forward situation is a question mark, with Ilya Mikheyev likely out the door along with Ondrej Kase and others. The blue line is a concern but there are few avenues to improve. It feels like this team is a ticking time bomb. Will a clean sweep run through if there’s another empty season? It’s hard to tell. However, there’s still a lot more that needs to happen before the Leafs’ season starts.
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