Sens extremely motivated to move Murray before Wednesday; will the Leafs pounce, or wait for a potential buyout to occur?
Leafs GM Kyle Dubas is still very much engaged with teams on potential trade options to address a need in goal ahead of the opening of free agency on Wednesday. The question is, will the Buds pull off a trade before then, or is Dubas merely laying the groundwork for a deal in case their free agency plans don't work out?
Ottawa Senators netminder Matt Murray has been available for some time and rumour has it that Dubas was actually keen to acquire him from the Sens last season after he had cleared waivers and been assigned to Belleville. Could Murray be the Leafs' primary target this summer? Well, the short answer is he very well could be. The longer answer is that if the Leafs are zeroing in on Murray, there are a number of ways that Murray to Toronto could happen, including him signing there as a UFA.
Per Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli, the Sens are doing everything they can to try and move Matt Murray before Wednesday, including both retaining salary AND adding a sweetener to the deal, but he did not rule out the possibility of a buyout, which would give the Sens a significant amount of cap relief.
If the Leafs do want to take a run at Murray, the question for Kyle Dubas then becomes does he want to get him outright for $3.125M-$6.25M in each of the next two seasons with a possible sweetener (a pick or a prospect, maybe both depending on whether or not any salary is retained) via trade? Or does he feel comfortable enough that he can land Murray on the open market as a UFA for much less if a buyout takes place? It's also worth noting that in order to be bought out, Murray would once again have to clear waivers - and with a number of teams, e.g. the Edmonton Oilers, still looking for goaltending, he could be claimed at his full $6.25M cap hit without the receiving team giving up any compensation at all, so that's a potential risk as well.
The Leafs can still pivot back to Jack Campbell if all goes south before Wednesday, but if they cannot lock down a deal by 12pm ET on Wednesday, this could be a very long, expensive summer for the Leafs as they negotiate from a position of weakness to secure a goaltender this summer on the trade market. I think it's really a question of do the Leafs feel that Murray is a true #1 capable of shouldering a heavy workload and playing in the pressure cooker that is Toronto? If the answer is yes, a trade with retention and a sweetener may make more sense than trying to get lucky with Murray clearing waivers, being bought out and then choosing to sign in Toronto as a UFA for less than what his 50% retention would have been ($3.125Mx2).
| POLL | ||
10 JUILLET | 371 ANSWERS Sens extremely motivated to move Murray before Wednesday; will the Leafs pounce, or wait for a potential buyout to occur? Does Matt Murray make sense for the Leafs as a #1? | ||
| Yes, he's still a good goalie | 52 | 14 % |
| No, he's lost it | 124 | 33.4 % |
| Just re-sign Campbell | 94 | 25.3 % |
| Gibson via trade or Kuemper via UFA signing | 101 | 27.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
