A fruitful Kraken day of free agency wrapped up Tuesday afternoon when the team added veteran goalie Matt Murray between the pipes.
Murray joins a Kraken netminding mix that already includes Joey Daccord and Philipp Grubauer, inking a one-year, $1 million pact. The move, made not long after the Kraken signed defenseman Ryan Lindgren to a four-year deal worth $4.5 million annually, furthers the goal of creating added depth and competition throughout the roster heading into training camp.
Kraken general manager Jason Botterill was an assistant GM in Pittsburgh when Murray, 31, helped lead the Penguins to consecutive Stanley Cup titles in 2015-16 and 2016-17.
“It falls in the same realm we’ve talked about before – of just adding competition and adding depth in an Olympic year,” Botterill said. “It’s a scenario where we felt that it made us stronger down at the goalie position.”
Botterill added that Murray also knows new Kraken goaltending coach Colin Zulianello as both hail from Thunder Bay, Ontario.
The Kraken had made some deals ahead of free agency, dealing for forwards Mason Marchment and Freddy Gaudreau while also trading away Andre Burakovsky. Botterill didn’t rule out further moves from here, but said he’s “happy with what we’ve done with the roster” given the acquisitions to-date.
“We talked about adding a little more size, a little bit more physicality, a little bit more compete,” he said. “And I hate to keep bringing it up, but to me there’s competition and that’s what we really want.”
The goaltending position seems in line for plenty of competitiveness after Botterill said last week that Grubauer would indeed be back alongside Daccord.
As for Murray, he’d just turned 22 during Pittsburgh’s first title run in spring 2016 when he earned Conn Smythe consideration as playoff MVP by virtue of going 15-6 with a goals against average of 2.08 and a .923 save percentage. The following season, he went 32-10-4 with a 2.41 goals against average and .923 save percentage in a tandem with Marc-Andre Fleury.
But Murray was injured in the pregame warmup ahead of the team’s playoff opener and Fleury took over in net, leading the Pens back to the conference final. Murray replaced Fleury in Game 3 of that round against Ottawa and helped the Pens to their second straight championship – shutting out the Nashville Predators in Games 5 and 6 and the last 146:52 of that final.
Murray spent parts of five seasons in Pittsburgh before being traded to Ottawa in 2020. The Senators then dealt him to the Toronto Maple Leafs along with draft picks for future considerations ahead of the 2022-23 season. He appeared in 26 games to start that campaign but then missed nearly two years of NHL action and the entire 2023-24 season due to bi-lateral hip surgery.
Murray signed a one-year, $875,000 contract with Toronto ahead of last season and returned to the NHL for two regular season games for the Leafs and 21 more for their AHL Marlies affiliate.
“Matt has dealt with injuries,” Botterill said. “We feel he’s healthy. We feel he’s hungry to come in and compete for a position. He obviously has the pedigree of knowing what it takes to win a Stanley Cup. So, we’re excited to work with him.”
