Boyzy

Bradford, ON • Canada • 35 Years Old • Male

Leafs Acquire Matt Murray

Kyle Dubas has traded for a player he once had playing for him with the Soo Greyhounds. The Leafs have added Matt Murray to their roster for Future Considerations. The full trade has a 3rd round pick in 23 and a 7th round pick in 24. Matt Murray is a risk for Dubas because injuries are a concern just like I had mentioned in my article for the Mrazek trade. We all know about Matt taking the net from Marc-Andre Fleury while with the Penguins and leading them to two Stanley Cups which is no small feat, but Pittsburgh decided to move on from Murray and hand the net to Tristian Jarry. On October 9th of 2020 Matt Murray signed a 4-year contract with Ottawa, his current deal and followed that up posting a record of 10-13-1 in 27 appearances posting a goals against average of 3.38. Last season his final with Ottawa in just twenty games Murray posted a record of 5-12-2 with a goals against average of 3.05. Murray would even have a short stint with the AHL’s Belleville Sens going 1-1 with a 2.55 average and a .918 save percentage. Murray only appeared in 22 games last season because he was dealing with a concussion.For this trade to have happened the Leafs needed to look over Matt’s medical records and seeing as the deal has been announced by the team, he has been deemed fit to play this coming season. Throughout the summer so far, the Leafs have overhauled the goaltending staff, after letting go of Steve Brier who was the team’s goalie coach so around seven seasons, he would be replaced by Curtis Sanford from the Canucks organization and is responsible for developing Thatcher Demko who is now Vancouver’s starting goalie. Sanford is now responsible for helping Murray find his game. Another important detail with the Leafs goaltending staff is the addition of Jon Elkin who is a long time trainer for Matt Murray. I am sure readers will see these stats with Ottawa and will likely wonder what Kyle Dubas is doing acquiring this goalie but let’s remember that Ottawa for the last two years have been terrible defensively and there is a reason the Sens have been drafting early in round one of the previous drafts. I have seen online some of the reaction from fans and I have received quite a few texts from friends voicing their frustration over this trade and I can understand it and for those who read my previous article you read the concerns I have with Matt Murray being the Leafs goalie but Matt Murray is a goalie who if he has a team in front of him that can perform then he is perfectly capable of getting the job done, like he did as a member of the Penguins. Let me remind you that when Kyle Dubas traded for Jack Campbell “experts” wondered if he was the right man for the job because he hadn’t proven he was strong enough in goal to guide his team too the post season. I think if you look at Campbell’s performance in the blue and white replacing Hutchinson with Jack Campbell worked out for Dubas and the Leafs. Yes, I know he didn’t win a series for the Leafs in the playoffs and yes, he battled his own injuries while with the Leafs but on most nights, he battled and worked hard to lead the Leafs to victory. Matt Murray is a guy who if he can find his game and confidence can be a difference maker for Toronto. The Leafs haven’t seen the second round of the playoffs for eighteen years and they have picked up a goalie who is the only goalie in recent memory he is the last goalie to beat Andrei Vasilevskiy in an elimination game when Kyle Dubas has traded for a player he once had playing for him with the Soo Greyhounds. The Leafs have added Matt Murray to their roster for Future Considerations. The full trade has a 3rd round pick in 23 and a 7th round pick in 24. Now any time you grab draft picks it’s a good thing because you can use them as assets for possible future trades, but the main piece of this trade is obviously Murray would win his first cup in 2016.rnrnToronto is obviously taking a chance in trading for Murray but that can be said with every single goalie signed at any point by a team but let’s try not to panic too much before Murray even steps onto the ice and that is rich coming from me because if you saw some of the comments, I had told friends of mine you would be calling me out for sure. With Ottawa retaining 25% of Murray’s 6.25-million-dollar price tag the Leafs are paying the remaining 4.68 million dollars for this coming season and the next, the Leafs still have 6.3 million dollars in cap space and Pierre LeBrun tweeted out saying that although he doesn’t guarantee that Toronto will still be involved in searching for another goalie and possibly going with a tandem in goal. There are still some options out there three goalies on the market are Eric Comrie a UFA of the Winnipeg Jets, Anthony Stolarz of the Anaheim Ducks, and Ilya Samsonov who is surprisingly moving on from the Washington Capitals. With Eric Comrie he is a goalie who last season in nineteen appearances posted some strong numbers backing up Hellebuyck posing a record of 10-5-1 with 2.58 goals against average and a save percentage of .920%. Last season Comrie carried a price tag of $750,000 and so based on his numbers if the Leafs were to sign him it could possibly get done with an offer around 850-900K still leaving Toronto enough space to address other needs. Anthony Stolarz who is the backup goalie for the Ducks who are in the process of retooling by developing young prospects, but Stolarz who appeared in twenty-eight games managed a record of 12-8-3 with a goals against average of 2.67 and a save percentage of .917%. Stolarz however is under contract with the Ducks for this coming season at a price of $950,000 and the Leafs would need to try and negotiate another trade and the obvious risk Toronto faces here is are the Ducks willing to part with Stolarz a goalie that has performed quite well behind regular starter John Gibson who in recent days saw his agent who also looks after Jack Campbell say that Gibson has no interest in playing for the Maple Leafs. Everyone reading this however knows an agent’s words really mean nothing because of the teams General Manager feels it’s necessary and beneficial to trade a player then it’s likely done regardless of what the agent says. My personal thought on Anthony Stolarz joining the Leafs via trade are very slim. Finally, Ilya Samsonov who I am surprised to say did not receive a Qualifying Offer from the Metro Division’s Washington Capitals which I think all but confirms that Darcy Kuemper will be leaving the city of Denver and relocating to DC. Last season Samsonov played for a cap hit of $925,000 and Capitals fans saw him appear in forty-four games which saw Ilya post a record of 23-12-5, a goals against average of 3.02 and a save percentage of .896%. If I am Kyle Dubas I would be on the phone with Samsonov as soon as possible to hopefully work out an agreement because I think he would be the perfect compliment to Matt Murray in goal because I think Erik Kallgren who when called upon last season played well for the Leafs, I think he and Joseph Woll would benefit a great deal if they both play this coming season with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, but it all depends on what Kyle Dubas has planned for his Leafs team with Free Agency opening on Wednesday.

That’s all for this one let the Matt Murray era begin thanks as always for reading and Welcome to Toronto Matt.

Not only will I be posting future articles here but I also have my own blog site please check it out.rnrnboyerfromthebench.blogspot.com