Matt Murray
The Toronto Maple Leafs are betting on Matt Murray to have a bounce back season and help anchor the Maple Leafs to postseason success. However, there are a few red flags here which makes this a bit of a longshot.
First, Murray is injury prone. You have to go back four years to find a season where he last played 50 games. The Leafs clearly did their homework however, so he should be healthy to start the season, and the injury thing shouldn’t be too big of a deal, since if he can’t play the team can put him on the LTIR and get a replacement.
The only real risk here is that he finds his form, makes the Leafs look like geniuses, then gets injured late in the year when it’s hard to replace him. This risk is lessened by the fact that that could happen with any goalie at any time.
Consistency is also a problem with Murray. When he has been healthy, he just hasn’t been that good. There was a nice stretch last year before he went down, and you assume that is what the Leafs are banking on, but there are no sure things with players who suffer injuries in four straight years.
While his postseason stats are impressive with a 2.18 GAA and a 0.921 save percentage, not to mention 2 x Stanley Cups, you can see a massive drop off from his back-to-back Stanley Cup seasons to his other work. In his recent trip to the playoffs with the Pittsburgh Penguins, he was horribly inconsistent and the Pens would rely on Tristan Jarry.
Thankfully, Murray is an at least average goaltender who teams would rely on. He has solid poise and his ability to stay calm under pressure is well-known during this breakthrough in the league. If Murray can find this form again, then I am certain that the Maple Leafs will finally find postseason success.
Expectations: 0.920 save percentage with a 2.5 goals against average, bringing the same success to the postseason.