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Toronto Maple Leafs Should Not Pursue Matt Murray

By Stephen Nixon

TORONTO, ON - OCTOBER 18: Goalie Matt Murray #30 of the Pittsburgh Penguins watches for the puck with Mitchell Marner #16 of the Toronto Maple Leafs out front during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on October 18, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Penguins defeated the Maple Leafs 3-0.(Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - OCTOBER 18: Goalie Matt Murray #30 of the Pittsburgh Penguins watches for the puck with Mitchell Marner #16 of the Toronto Maple Leafs out front during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on October 18, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Penguins defeated the Maple Leafs 3-0.(Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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The Toronto Maple Leafs may look to replace Freddie Andersen this off-season but they shouldn’t do it with Matt Murray.

When the Toronto Maple Leafs made a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins earlier this week, I was one of many people who thought Matt Murray’s name would be involved. However, that was not the case and according to The Athletic’s Pierre Lebrun it was never a thought.

"“Murray’s name did not come up in talks between the two teams.”"

Although Murray’s name wasn’t involved in that conversation, it doesn’t mean the Leafs aren’t sniffing around for a new goaltender.  With one year left until he becomes an Unrestricted Free Agent, the Toronto Maple Leafs have to figure out if Andersen will be their goaltender of the future. Toronto doesn’t have to make that decision today but with a healthy asset making only $5 million, this is their prime window to trade him.

In the past, the team has let Tyler Bozak, James van Riemsdyk and Leo Komorov all walk to Free Agency looking at them as hometown rentals.

But, should the Leafs do that again with Andersen?

That’s the biggest question management has to be asking themselves, but I know they shouldn’t get rid of Andersen for Murray.

The Leafs Should Not Pursue Matt Murray

Murray is a recognizable name because he’s a two-time Stanley Cup winner. No discredit to Murray’s championships because the Stanley Cup is the hardest trophy to win in sports, but he was in the right place at the right time.

After Marc-Andre Fleury suffered a concussion in the 2015-16 season, Murray sprung to action and saved the day. Winning 15 of the necessary 16 games, Murray posted an impressive 2.08 GAA and .923 save percentage in the 2015-16 playoffs.

One year later, a healthy Fleury took the Penguins to the Conference Finals before Murray came in and got hot for 11 games guiding Pittsburgh to back-to-back championships.  With the security blanket of a future Hall-of-Fame goaltender in Fleury behind him, Murray was able to squeeze out two championships, when any other top-10 goalie in the NHL would have been able to do the same if given that situation.

Murray is only 26-years-old and could improve, but the fact that Pittsburgh is even shopping him tells you everything you need to know.

Let’s compare the last four seasons of Murray and Andersen (NHL.com):

Matt Murray:

  • 2016-17 Season:
    • 32-10-4 regular season record, .923 Sv%, 2.41 GAA
    • 7-3 playoff record, .937 Sv%, 1.70 GAA
  • 2017-18 Season:
    • 27-16-3 regular season record, .907 Sv%, 2.92 GAA
    • 6-6 playoff record, .908 Sv%, 2.43 GAA
  • 2018-19 Season:
    • 29-14-6 regular season, .919 Sv%, 2.69 GAA
    • 0-4 playoff record, .906 Sv%, 3.02 GAA
  • 2019-20 Season:
    • 20-11-5 regular season, .899 Sv%, 2.87 GAA
    • 1-2 playoff record, .914 Sv%, 2.50 GAA
  • Total: 
    • Regular Season: 108-51-18 record, 912 Sv%, 2.72 GAA
    • Playoffs: 14-15 record, 916 Sv%, 2.41 GAA

Freddie Andersen:

  • 2016-17 Season:
    • 33-16-14 regular season record, .918 Sv%, 2.67 GAA
    • 2-4 playoff record, .915 Sv%, 2.68 GAA
  • 2017-18 Season:
    • 38-21-5 regular season record, .918 Sv%, 2.81 GAA
    • 3-3 playoff record, .896 Sv%, 3.76 GAA
  • 2018-19 Season:
    • 36-16-7 regular season record, .917 Sv%, 2.77 GAA
    • 3-4 playoff record, .922 Sv%, 2.75 GAA
  • 2019-20 Season:
    • 29-13-7 regular season record, .909 Sv%, 2.85 GAA
    • 2-3 playoff record, .936 Sv%, 1.84 GAA
  • Total:
    • Regular Season: 136- 66-33 record, 915 Sv%, 2.77 GAA
    • Playoffs: 917 Sv%, 2.75 GAA

Everyone thinks Murray is a playoff god, but if you take out that lucky first season where he shouldn’t even have played, both goaltenders are pretty identical.  The only difference is that when Murray played well in the playoffs, his team actually scored goals and went on a heater. If the Toronto Maple Leafs scored a few more goals against Columbus and Freddie kept this play, we’d still be talking about the Leafs in the playoffs right now.

Also, Murray has only played 50 regular season games once in his career and when he did, it was the worst playoffs of his career.   Sound familiar?

That’s the same narrative as Andersen, but 55 games seems like the sweet spot for him, compared to well-below 50.  Murray is a fine NHL goaltender but I don’t expect him to win a Vezina Trophy in the next few years.

Therefore, if you’re going to pursue Murray, you might as well re-sign Andersen because you’re going to be getting a pretty equal goaltender at a similar price-tag.

Next. The Greatest Toronto Maple Leafs: From A-Z. dark

If the Toronto Maple Leafs want to get rid of Andersen, that’s fine with me, but they better be bringing in a better goaltender than Matt Murray.

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