Why Matt Murray makes sense for the Leafs and the Leafs make sense for Matt Murray
Possibly the worst kept secret in the League at the moment is the Leafs' pursuit of Ottawa Senators goaltender Matt Murray. Murray is a 2 time Stanley Cup winner who famously stole the crease away from Marc-Andre Fleury in consecutive cup runs for the Penguins. Unfortunately, since then, Murray has had a rough go of things. The loss his father, Jim Murray, in January of 2018 was reportedly very hard on Matt and understandably so. Some have said that the difficulties he faced in dealing with the loss were partly to blame for his game dropping off. Honestly, I can't blame him for that. Between that and a string of injuries that have kept him on the sidelines for most of the past 2 seasons, Murray's value has dropped off to the point where the Senators are willing to not only retain salary, but potentially also throw in a sweetener as the cherry on top to find him a new home.
The situation as it stands doesn't seem promising for the Leafs, a team desperately in need of some stability in net this season. In fact many Leafs fans are already rallying in opposition of the move, but I believe it can work. Here's why.
We know Murray has been an elite goaltender in the past. You don't win consecutive Stanley Cups if you aren't. The ability is there, his career playoff sv% of .921 is evidence of that. I believe it's a matter of making Murray comfortable and bringing his confidence back. Murray has worked with both Dubas and Keefe in the past when they were all with the Soo Greyhounds organization, he's also worked regularly in past off seasons with Jon Elkin, who is in charge of the Leafs' newly re-vamped goaltending deptartment.
Murray only played 20 games for the Senators last season, but in those 20 games he was actually quite good. His season sv% was tanked by his final 2 games of the season, allowing 5 goals in a game against the Lightning and 8 goals against Arizona during which he suffered a concussion after being run over by his own teammate, Nikita Zaitsev. Despite that, he still finished the year with a respectable .906 sv% on an otherwise horrible Senators team.
If Murray can stay healthy, which is a big concern, I see no reason why he can't turn it around in Toronto and get back to playing quality hockey. In a comfortable environment with familiar faces and a much stronger defense than any he's had in Ottawa, there is no reason Matt Murray can't be a comeback story in the Blue and White.
