Toronto Maple Leafs: Matt Murray Rumours Force Me Off the Couch

The Toronto Maple Leafs could be on the verge of aquiring Matt Murray.

I’ll say that again, because it makes no sense (at least at first): The Toronto Maple Leafs may be on the verge of trading for Matt Murray, the much maligned Ottawa Senators goalie with the wacky contract.

I fully expect the Leafs to try and find themselves a goalie that is a no-doubt top  goalie in the NHL, because I believe that if there was ever a team who could use the psychological boost from having a top goalie, it’s the team that lost six times in a row when it counted.

Normally, I think the best way to approach goalies is to go as cheap as possible, because you can’t even really rely on the good ones as much as you could rely on a similarly talented skater.

But with this team, I can see the sense in trying to swing a trade for a Helleybuck or a Sorokin.

That might not be possible, and besides, the Leafs might not agree. They might look at how they were fourth overall and had to get unlucky to lose to the back-to-back Champs even though they had the 27th best goaltending last year.

Either way: Enter Matt Murray

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Matt Murray

This is interesting enough to make me pause Back to the Future and get off the coach:

Matt Murray makes a $6.25 cap hit this year and next, and comes with a full NTC, which the Leafs would have to honour. 

Automatically you have to assume a few things here:

1. The Leafs are not interested in pursuing a big-name UFA, because even with retained salary, it would cost too much of a cap hit at the goalie position to say have Murray and Husso or Keumper.
2. The cost to trade for a big-name goalie is either too high or the teams who have them aren’t trading them for anything.
3. Ottawa would be retaining half the salary.
4. Ottawa is sweetening the deal.

So the Leafs would get Matt Murray for two years, at $3.125, which is just slightly cheaper than Petr Mrazek, for a goalie who is no more reliable.

There would have been no point in making the trade with Chicago to save 600K and swap risky goalies, and therefore you have to imagine that the sweetener the Senators are throwing in makes it worthwhile.

The Senators were already prepared to move down nine spots in the draft and pay half of Murray’s salary, and a deal was done but Murray wouldn’t go to Buffalo, which is reasonable.

A smart for the Leafs might be to get Ottawa to send whatever sweetener they are throwing in to another team to double retain and get Murray at an even cheaper cap hit.  I doubt this happens, and I would expect the Leafs to get a pretty good piece in return for taking on this deal.

Murray is 28, he has won a Stanley Cup, and he just hasn’t had a very good last few seasons.  He’s risky, but does have some upside. Clearly the Leafs couldn’t just take on salary to help other teams, so they must see something they like, and feel like they can pair him with another players at a reasonable cost.

Which might mean the re-entry of Jack Campbell to the conversation.  I am 100% against giving Campbell any kind of long  term deal, but on a one-year deal I would very much like him in a combo with Murray.

It wouldn’t be my first choice, but the Leafs have proven they can win without elite goaltending, and depending on the sweetener, it might be all right.  I am at least impressed enough with how the Toronto Maple Leafs run their team in general to give them the benefit of the doubt if they want to acquire a player like this.

Matt Murray doesn’t seem like such a hot idea to me, but I am willing to at least wait to see what happens before I declare it idiotic, which was, honestly , my first reaction when I heard the Leafs tied to him.

And now, back to Marty.