Penguins Should Consider Signing Matt Murray

The Pittsburgh Penguins appear likely to lose goaltender Stuart Skinner in free agency when it hits on July 1st. Skinner was acquired during the season as part of the Tristan Jarry trade and was good for Pittsburgh, but was reportedly very well-liked in the dressing room. The Penguins are poised to go very young in net next season with the returning Arturs Silovs and rookie sensation Sergei Murashov. While those two have shown promise, neither is a sure thing, and the Penguins should be, and likely will be, on the hunt for a competent veteran who could step in if the team’s goaltending goes sideways. Enter former Penguins starting goaltender and two-time Stanley Cup champion Matt Murray, a netminder that Pittsburgh should seriously consider as their third-string option.

Now, Murray is no longer an NHL starter, and it’s fair to wonder whether his body can even hold up as a regular backup. But it’s still clear that he can play when healthy, given his body of work over the last two seasons. This past year in Seattle, Murray dressed for five games with the Kraken, going 0-2-1 with a .922 SV% and a 2.21 GAA before suffering an injury that sidelined him for most of the season. And therein lies the issue with Murray. He’s been hurt a lot.

The 32-year-old Murray has not played more than 30 games in a single season since the 2019-20 campaign, when he was still with the Penguins, and really can’t be expected to take regular starts given how his body has broken down. But Pittsburgh has what is perhaps the perfect role for him as their third stringer, and because Murray spent so much time on the injured reserve last year, he is eligible to sign an incentive-laden contract, which may be something he pursues.

Murray will likely be looking for an opportunity to get significant playing time if his body can hold up, which is why Pittsburgh might be the right fit for him. Pittsburgh could pay Murray NHL money, keep him up with the big club, and give him the occasional spot start to give Murashov and Silovs a rest, or they could bounce him back and forth between the AHL and the NHL and pay him his one-way salary. Either way, Murray collects his NHL paycheck, and the Penguins have their third-string safety net as well as Murray’s mentorship to assist Murashov and Silovs. That last piece, Murray’s ability to provide guidance to the Penguins’ young netminders, is perhaps the most important, as it would give Murashov the type of mentor that Murray had when he was a rookie, with Marc-Andre Fleury backing him up on the way to back-to-back Stanley Cups.

Murray is a very different personality from Fleury, but he’s been through everything a rookie can go through in the NHL (twice), and his disposition would be incredibly valuable to Murashov, while also giving Pittsburgh one of the better third options in the league. Murray could also provide valuable insight into mental and physical preparation, as well as the injuries and issues he’s dealt with since being traded by the Penguins. Murray’s career has gone off the rails, and it was hard to foresee that a decade ago, when he was leading the Penguins to back-to-back Stanley Cups. But with those tough times come tough lessons, and that could be invaluable information for both Murashov and Silovs.

The other part of this equation is that the Penguins realistically have their AHL tandem set for next season in Joel Blomqvist and Taylor Gauthier. Blomqvist will likely get the lion’s share of the AHL starts, and the Penguins might not want to disrupt that continuity if there is an injury at the NHL level. Having Murray available as a potential third goalie in the NHL would allow Pittsburgh to have that in place rather than shuttling a goalie back and forth if injuries come up, which they might.

Now, there are obviously some roster logistics at play if the Penguins were to keep three NHL goalies on the roster, and teams typically don’t like to do this. But if any organization knows how fragile a young goaltender can be, it’s the Penguins. This isn’t to say it’s the Penguins’ fault, but if you look back at the last 20 years, Fleury, Murray, and Tristan Jarry have all been the Penguins’ starters during that time, and all three were effectively broken at some point. Of the three, only Fleury was able to resurrect his career and continue, while Murray and Jarry have floundered despite early success.

Goaltending is perhaps the hardest position in sports to project, and you never really know how things will play out. The Penguins have a very special prospect in Murashov, and he has the talent to be an NHL superstar. Throwing him to the wolves without a safety net next season could be disastrous, especially given how allergic to defensive hockey the Penguins have historically been. Having Murray in the fold isn’t going to take a ton of pressure off Murashov, but it does give him an outlet, a mentor, and a safety net when he will need to navigate stormy waters. It also won’t cost the Penguins much, other than a roster spot and a league-minimum salary.