When the Kraken signed two-time Stanley Cup champion netminder Matt Murray last Tuesday, they threw a bit of caution to the wind.
“Adding competition and adding depth in an Olympic year,” Kraken GM Jason Botterill pointed to after the signing. “It’s a scenario where Matt just made us stronger down in the goalie position. Matt has dealt with injuries, we feel he’s healthy, we feel he’s hungry to come in and compete for a position.”
The two-week Olympic break in February 2026 will mean a condensed schedule and more wear and tear during the balance of the NHL season.
It’s been a difficult ride for the 31-year-old goaltender since he burst on to the NHL scene in the spring of 2016 and backstopped the Penguins to back-to-back championships. The season after the second Stanley Cup, Murray suffered a lower body injury early on, lost his father James, with whom he was very close, in January of 2018, and later suffered a concussion. He seemed to be a different goalie.
After a partial bounce-back the following season, Murray was once again inconsistent in 2019-’20 and was traded to the Ottawa Senators the following fall. He struggled there and was shipped to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the summer of 2022. Following hip surgery he missed almost two entire seasons before spending most of last season with the Toronto Marlies in the American Hockey League.
His numbers in the AHL were excellent, thus the comeback opportunity.
“He obviously has the pedigree of knowing what it takes to win a Stanley Cup, so we’re excited to work with him,” Botterill added. “He has a familiarity with our (new) goalie coach Colin (Zulianello), both from the Thunder Bay (Ontario) area, and that familiarity just makes the transition that much easier.”
When Kraken training camp opens in September, Joey Daccord expects to be in the number-one spot with Philipp Grubauer serving as a very expensive back-up.
The thought of buying out the final two years of ‘Grubi’s’ contract that pays him $5.9-million per season seemed enticing, but without NHL depth in Seattle’s net, that proposition was too risky. The position is too unpredictable and Seattle would be one Daccord injury away from not having a bona fide NHL netminder.
Murray, for the moment, provides limited insurance, competition, and some hope.
Earlier Kraken:
— Kraken Sign 1st-Rounder O’Brien
