#9. Matt Murray
Current Status: Restricted Free Agent
I’ve already shared my thoughts about Murray, but here we go again. Murray is on this list because his name has been linked to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a few weeks, but I don’t think it would be a great decision to sign him.
In my opinion, Murray was in the right place at the right time. Winning a Stanley Cup is the ultimate prize in hockey but as we’ve seen in the past, almost any goalie can get you there. Whether it’s Murray in Pittsburgh, Jordan Binnington in St. Louis or Antti Niemi with Chicago, you don’t need a big-name net-minder to guide you to a Stanley Cup.
That’s exactly what happened to Murray in Pittsburgh. The rookie goalie was called up from the AHL, went on the hot-streak of his life and helped guide the Penguins to a Stanley Cup. No disrespect to Murray, as the Stanley Cup is the hardest trophy to win in sports but he found lightning in a bottle on a team led by the greatest player of this generation (Sidney Crosby) and the team won the Cup.
In a lot of ways, the Toronto Maple Leafs are the modern Penguins. They have one of the best players in the NHL (Auston Matthews) and have a supporting cast of skill (John Tavares, William Nylander and Mitch Marner) to win a Cup. All the Leafs need is a performance like Murray and they’ll be well on their way to a long post-season run.
Murray already found lightning in a bottle once, so don’t expect that to happen again if the Leafs went down this road.