Confirmed with Link: [TOR/OTT] Matt Murray (25% retention), a 3rd in 2023 and a 7th in 2024 for Future Considerations.

[Leaf Army]

That's the thing about a reclamation project. This is the net for the Toronto Maple Leafs, quite possibly the biggest pressure cooker in the NHL. Hope he's got the fire in him, that contract and our playoff expectations are going to be a heavy load to carry all while trying to rebuild his career.

Seems like we've set him up for failure.

Murray’s won two Stanley Cups.

If simply standing in Toronto’s net is more pressure filled than winning the Championship then that’s a whole different issue that needs to be addressed.

 

[Mess]

That's what concerning. It's not like he's coming back from a muscle pull
Knowing the type of injury and frequency, this is a very desperate move by a GM who is in love with his past team

Can Murray bounce back, yes....... For the love god I hope he does

We are talking traumatic brain injury here,

He only played in 27 games in 2021 and 20 games in 2022 season. That is essentially the workload of a backup goalie not a starter.

Murray has posted an .899 save percentage and 3.23 goals-against average in two seasons since joining the Senators in 2020. As a comparison Mrazek posted in his 20 games last year an .888 sv% and 3.34 GAA.

Murray's games and his numbers the past align more with Mrazek than Campbell 49 games 31 wins .914 sv% and 2.34 GAA.

So considering the injury risk here, this move is a little puzzling, because are the Leafs trying to replace Campbell or Mrazek here?

Murray hasn't performed at the Campbell level since 2015-16 and 2016-17 with the Pens, and that is without the injury, and that is quite a while ago in his past.

Murray's last year with the Pens in 2019-20 in 38 games he posted a 20-11-5 record and 2.87 GAA and .899 sv%, even if we ignore his Ottawa days, but those numbers he posted back then are indeed his expected bounce back #'s, so if those were his Leaf #'s for next year then Leafs would be in a lot of trouble. That's 45 points in the standings over the course of almost 1/2 a regular season.

 

[BertCorbeau]

Take it with a grain of salt.

Hey I'm glad there are people who believe in him. There needs to be.

I am not one of them, especially when it comes to staying healthy.

 

[Leafsfan74]

On the surface I don't like this deal. The fact is everyone and their mother knew the Leafs were cornered, it's a cut throat business but at least Murray has pedigree and I am a glass half full type of guy. I don't like to count guys out, especially when they have succeeded in the past.

Murray has won two Cups, this can't be overstated. He can enter a playoff run with far more arrogance than other goalies on the team over the last 20 years who haven't even won a round.

I suspect more trades and I will await the final product. Some harder nosed, North/South forwards would be preferable.

 

[Erndog]

Take it with a grain of salt.

Pierre Dorion himself said that Murray has been in the gym everyday but yet to get on the ice this summer. Was planning on it next week.

So how can he possibly be working on his lateral movement? Clearly not with his equipment on then

 

[ponder]

If we’d swung some 3 team deal, with 75% retained, and the plan was for Murray to be the backup, this would make sense. But just 25% retained? He’s significantly more expensive than Mrazek! And that gives me a sinking feeling that Murray will be our starter, which is … yikes.

Do not like this deal at all. Moved down from 25 to 38 to dump Mrazek, only to take on an even worse goalie contract, with even less coming back (a 3rd is worth significantly less than the 25/38 difference). Who knows, maybe Dubas is a genius and Murray becomes a strong starter again, but I think it’s more likely he’s another Mrazek, and this deal is just plain old shit.

 

[CanHeDoIt99]

FWIW I thought Murray was an ok option at 50% retained as 1/2 a tandem. Goalies are voodoo and clearly Murray has done it before and hes still on the right side of 30 compared to the FA options in Campbell/Kuemper.

Was not interested at all in giving Campbell 5 years.

at 25% retained its tough, because they could use the additional 1.5M on Murray's tandemmate - I'll save judgement I guess until we see what the tandem is. If they can save money on the 2nd option somehow/gain value that way, then it could be alright, but I think they should have gotten more than a 3rd+7th if 50% wasn't being retained.

Trade the picks we just got for Reimer please.

 

[Marmoset]

Want my prediction?

- Dubas trades Kerfoot/Holl (5.5 approx out). THen goes bargain bin shopping to fill roster spots after UFA market is done and only leftovers are there

- his fans go about saying how great dubas is

- leafs struggle to make the playoffs or if they do they get bounced in the 1st round

- people here again claim goalie was garbage, or core didn't show up or whatever.... dubas goes blame free. Rinse and Repeat

No one will ever recognize that dubas has screwed the pooch from the beginning since he has been a GM; and "quality" secondary scoring/depth pieces are required in the NHL to have success. These pieces don't come cheap.

I disagree with this part. This is Dubas' last shot. The calls for his head will be overwhelming if the Leafs fail next season and MLSE will have no reason not to listen to them. Shanahan could very well go too in this scenario.

There is no way that MLSE executives are happy with being embarrassed, and it will be embarrassing if the Leafs fall flat again.

 

[Craigo85]

To trade out of the first round to get rid of Mrazek, just to fill that cap space with Murray, boggles my mind.

I'm a Dubas fan, and I trust him, but this is one HELL of a gamble for this core, this window, and his job.

There better be one hell of a sweetener attached to this deal.

You said exactly what I'm thinking. I've also historically been a Dubas apologist/supporter. Easily won the Mrazek trade and looks like a bigger loss here. I'd have preferred matching 5x5 on Campbell (and I don't like that one either) than taking this goalie.

Unless the future considerations is something after free agency and they wanted a bonus to be paid first .... This doesn't make sense to me.

 

[TheGreenTBer]

Gretz was never coming back to Canada , he was just using the Leafs to up his offer then whined how he took a pay cut to go to NY .

The idea of taking a pay cut to play for the pre-salary-cap NY Rangers admittedly makes me chuckle. Where's Bobby Holik when you need him?

 

[TheBeastCoast]

I am not what one would consider a Dubas hater....but holy f*** do I hate this. This deal really does have the potential to seal Dubas fate. What a roll of the dice.

 

[dubey]

Take it with a grain of salt.

lol

This is what we call a moonshot boys

 

[Rob Brown]

lol

This is what we call a moonshot boys

 

[Funk21]

Look this didn’t cost us anything other than the potential that this guy continues to be a mess.

From the sounds of it looks like Kuemper is landing in Washington. I certainly don’t want to pay Campbell 5x5 or more. We are buying a stop gap but make no bones about it he needs to find his form and stay healthy. If he does and we get a 3rd and a 7th for free.

If Dubas can trade for Blackwood or sign Samsonov that could be a solid tandem.

 

[barilko05]

Should have seen if david ayres was available.

Oh my stars! That is so funny...and so timely! Your comedic genius is clearly a cut above the rest of us...

Jesus.

 

[Stephen]

Jon Elkin was the Soo Greyhound coach when Murray was there, so it is a little bit about the Soo.

But more so about Elkin.

Oh private goalie coach. Who are some other NHLers that have worked with Elkin?

 

[Byron Bitz]

Would Matt Murray @ $4.69M pass through waivers?

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tenor.com

Matt Murray cruising through waivers at 4.69

 

[thewave]

I disagree with this part. This is Dubas' last shot. The calls for his head will be overwhelming if the Leafs fail next season and MLSE will have no reason not to listen to them. Shanahan could very well go too in this scenario.

There is no way that MLSE executives are happy with being embarrassed, and it will be embarrassing if the Leafs fall flat again.

The execs are probably pretty comfortably numb at this point. I really don't think the brass feels anything at all tbh, it's just proving to be a rotten culture at management once again. Fire everyone and let a real hockey person build the whole team top to bottom. Let them all go, there is nobody worth keeping except some scouts and trainers.

I know this sounded like an extreme hot take. I know that, but the sad part is I think it's actually the truth. I mean that. Get Larry T out of the top spot and work your way down the chain.

 

[OptimusReim]

Waiting for the Dubas fan boys to tell all of us why we're all wrong and this is another brilliant move by their hero.

 

[CanHeDoIt99]

I can only assume Dubas will be fired ~ 9-12 months from now if Murray sucks.

The likelihood of Murray sucking is around 90% IMO.

Bold move there, Kyle.

I'm not a fan of this trade but I do find one of the funniest things in any sports related discussion are comments like these. Just pull a random % out of nowhere LOL.

 

[Mckay]

Waiting for the Dubas fan boys to tell all of us why we're all wrong and this is another brilliant move by their hero.

The best and most positive thing anyone can say is "Wait and see how it turns out".

 

[BertCorbeau]

Look this didn’t cost us anything other than the potential that this guy continues to be a mess.

From the sounds of it looks like Kuemper is landing in Washington. I certainly don’t want to pay Campbell 5x5 or more. We are buying a stop gap but make no bones about it he needs to find his form and stay healthy. If he does and we get a 3rd and a 7th for free.

If Dubas can trade for Blackwood or sign Samsonov that could be a solid tandem.

I agree I didn't want to sign Campbell for 5+ years and wasn't sold on Keumper after his underwhelming playoff numbers, especially at his price tag.

I think a band aid stop gap was the best course of action MAF would have been ideal but he never made it to the market.

I could stomach Murray at 25% if the sweetener was a lot better. A 3rd and 7th is better than nothing since they didn't give up anything, but the cap space lost that will impact their ability to fill out the depth is what gets me.

He better be shrewd in this area because I think there are some good fitting pieces out there.

But at this point, if the don't make it out of the first round again (or worse) I'm fine with moving on. He just can't seem to fleece trades, which is starting to hurt the team.

 

[Rob Brown]

Waiting for the Dubas fan boys to tell all of us why we're all wrong and this is another brilliant move by their hero.

Lol read the thread man.

 

[Stephen]

FWIW I thought Murray was an ok option at 50% retained as 1/2 a tandem. Goalies are voodoo and clearly Murray has done it before and hes still on the right side of 30 compared to the FA options in Campbell/Kuemper.

Was not interested at all in giving Campbell 5 years.

at 25% retained its tough, because they could use the additional 1.5M on Murray's tandemmate - I'll save judgement I guess until we see what the tandem is. If they can save money on the 2nd option somehow/gain value that way, then it could be alright, but I think they should have gotten more than a 3rd+7th if 50% wasn't being retained.

Trade the picks we just got for Reimer please.

Goalies aren’t voodoo though. It’s just observers who aren’t interested in the position who write it off as an interchangeable cog. Think of it as it’s own sport within a sport with its own specialization.

 

[WTFMAN99]

We’re able to sign Matthews next summer to an extension. Anyone confident that happens when shit for brains has us missing the playoffs or out in the 1st round again because this gamble didn’t work?