Ex-Penguins goaltender Matt Murray eager for new start with Senators

Matt Murray already has a poignant connection to his new team, the Ottawa Senators.

A native of Thunder Bay, which is a 16-hour drive across the expanse of Ontario from Canada’s capital, Murray looked up to a journeyman NHL goaltender who spent parts of two seasons playing for the Senators in the late 2000s and early 2010s.

Alex Auld.

Murray’s adulation of Auld had more to do with his character than accomplishments.

“I was probably 13 or 14, the triple-A team (bantam) up there, the Thunder Bay Kings,” Murray said. “Alex Auld offered to buy either a chest protector or a new set of gloves for every goalie in the whole organization. I was in shock in the generosity of it. He’s been an idol of mine to this day because of it. Everyone from Thunder Bay is proud to say he’s from Thunder Bay.”

Murray also struck a prideful tone while discussing his new franchise a day after his former employer, the Penguins, traded his rights as a restricted free agent.

“I see a team that’s heading in the right direction and heading there quickly,” Murray said in a video conference Thursday. “I paid a bit of attention to what happened in the draft, and this is a young team stacked with talent and heading absolutely in the right direction and a team anybody would be excited to be a part of and a team that has a really bright future. I see a really good fit there for me being a bit of an older guy I guess, and I feel like I have a lot to bring to a team like that and everybody should be really excited about the future of this team.”

The Senators are in the midst of a rebuild and see the 26-year-old Murray as being a centerpiece for that endeavor.

“Matt Murray is something that we’ve been working on since Pittsburgh got eliminated (from the playoffs) this year,” Senators general manager Pierre Dorian said to Canadian media Wednesday. “He’s someone that we feel can be a mentor for the very good young goalies we have in the organization. He’s someone that brings credibility to the position and someone that we feel that has something to prove, and we’re excited to have him on board.”

It remains to be seen what the Senators will pay Murray, who just completed a three-year contract with a salary cap hit of $3.75 million. He is eligible for arbitration and could net a deal with a salary cap hit as high as $6 million through that process.

According to Cap Friendly, the Senators have $42,062,500 of salary cap space to work with but are considered one of the more frugal franchises in the NHL.

Regardless of the economics, Murray professes he is eager to set roots in Ottawa.

“Absolutely, that is my hope for sure,” Murray said. “I hope something happens here in the next little bit. I haven’t heard anything on that front as of yet, but I’m sure my agent and the team are having talks. I’m hoping we can get something done so that I can be here for years to come.”

At one time, it seemed like Murray would be a member of the Penguins for the long haul. After he led the franchise to the Stanley Cup in 2016 and ‘17, the Penguins opted to cut ties with long-time goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and proclaimed Murray the undisputed No. 1 goaltender.

Despite that promotion, he never enjoyed the same success as he battled injuries and inconsistency throughout his final three seasons in Pittsburgh.

This past season, any hopes of Murray re-establishing his game during a contract season never materialized. And with the rise of All-Star goaltender Tristan Jarry and the Penguins’ limited salary cap space thanks to the NHL’s economics being inhibited by the coronavirus pandemic, it became apparent, at least externally, Murray’s tenure with the Penguins was coming to an end.

“You’re always hopeful that things are going to work out,” Murray said. “Most of it was out of my control. I didn’t have a no-move or no-trade (clause) or anything like that. So I figured it was definitely a possibility (of moving on).”

The Senators and Murray believe it’s a probability he will regain his championship form.

“I always try to keep a mindset that I just bring everything that I have on every given night,” Murray said. “Sometimes, that will go really well. Sometimes, it might not. That’s just the ups and downs of being a goalie in general. But I believe if you maintain a level of preparation and you bring the same attitude to the rink over a long period of time, the results are going to take care of themselves.”

Follow the Penguins all season long.