Ottawa Senators goaltender Matt Murray makes a save during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Chicago Blackhawks on Nov. 1, 2021, in Chicago. Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press
Matt Murray was at home in Ottawa on Tuesday, taking calls and texts from his new hockey club. He and his wife, Christina, had already started looking for houses in Toronto on the Internet.
He was pleasant and polite in his first media appearance since being traded to the Maple Leafs on Monday. He said all the right things; he recalled being around them as a kid growing up in Thunder Bay.
“I wanted to let everyone know how excited I am and how intense and exciting the last few days have been,” Murray said before taking questions. “Everything in this team is top notch.
“It seems like a place where I can thrive.”
The 28-year-old goalkeeper seems to have ticked some important boxes. He won two Stanley Cups, so there’s that. As a teenager, he played four years for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, so he is well acquainted with Toronto general manager Kyle Dubas and head coach Sheldon Keefe, also a former member of the Soo.
Beyond that, however, there are an awful lot of questions.
On the one hand, the Maple Leafs filled a need by acquiring a veteran netminder. The fact that they did it two days before Jack Campbell became an unrestricted free agent almost makes it seem like a last-minute preemptive strike to soften the disappointment of not re-signing the 2022 All-Star.
Murray comes with a pedigree earned by winning Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins in his first two seasons. But that was half a dozen years ago; now it is more of a reclamation project.
He spent the last two seasons with the Senators, losing more games than he won and stopping less than 90 percent of the shots he faced.
He has three concussions, lost the starting job to Anton Forsberg last year, was sidelined and finished the campaign in the American Hockey League.
Perhaps he will recapture the form that once made him one of the elite young keepers in the game, but there is a lot to be desired.
Without him, though, the Maple Leafs have more holes in the crease than first baseman Vladimir Guerrero’s glove. They recently provided a backup to Petr Mrazek in Chicago and beyond that Eric Kahlgren and Joseph Wall can count on. Between them, they have appeared in 19 NHL games combined.
Toronto acquired Murray, a third-round pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft and a seventh-round pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft in exchange for future considerations. Ottawa will retain 25 percent of Murray’s salary — $6.25 million per year over two years — as part of the deal.
Campbell, meanwhile, is about to line his pockets while playing for another team — the Edmonton Oilers are currently aggressive in that pursuit.
Campbell, 30, was 31-9-6 last season with a .914 save percentage. He made $1.65 million in each of the past two seasons and supplanted Frederik Andersen as the Maple Leafs’ starter.
It’s hard to imagine Toronto being better off without him, especially if his defense remains inconsistent.
Murray has been good enough at times to supplant Marc-Andre Fleury as the Penguins’ No. 1 goaltender. Pittsburgh was once so confident in him that they even made Fleury available to the Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft.
He will need to recapture some of that magic to increase Toronto’s chances of winning at least one playoff round. That doesn’t seem like too high a measure until you realize it hasn’t been made here since 2004.
Maybe another surprise is in store. If not, the murmuring among fans has already begun. From the reaction Monday, you’d think Dubas nearly set the franchise on fire.
This is not Murray’s fault in the least. He seems like a nice enough guy.
“My time in Ottawa didn’t go the way anyone expected,” he said Tuesday. “Now I am primarily focused on the future.
“I’m extremely motivated and I feel like I have a lot to prove. Toronto is where I want to be. I’m excited to get started.”
Murray traveled to Toronto last week and underwent a medical. He expects to return soon to work with the coaching staff and practice with his new teammates.
“It’s a great group,” Murray said. “There are so many great players on this team and they’ve had so much success over the last few years.”
Yes, during the regular season. Otherwise, no.
“The huge thing these Cup races have taught me is that it’s all about the day-to-day process,” Murray said. “It taught me a lot of lessons that I can apply here.”
Add Comment