Thursday, the Pittsburgh Penguins announced that they and Matt Murray agreed to a three-year contract extension with an annual value of $3.75 million.
For a Stanley Cup Champion, general manager Jim Rutherford really got a great value with this move.
“We have a young goalie that has had a very good career,” Rutherford said. “He won a Stanley Cup, played extremely well, and we feel he has a bright future ahead and a long future ahead of him. Getting him on a bridge contract at that number does help us going forward with our cap.”
The 22-year-old Murray took over the starting goaltender role late in the season after an injury to starter Marc-Andre Fleury. Murray was Pittsburgh’s go-to-guy in net during the postseason, posting a 15-6 win-loss record and a .923 completion percentage.
Murray was recently injured in the World Cup of Hockey and has been sidelined with a hand injury.
The move to sign Murray will be an important move down the line when the team has to select one goalie to be untouched when the expansion draft hits.
But, for the time being, Rutherford told fans not to give into rumors of shopping goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury around. Instead, he said to wait to see how things play out.
“Let’s not presume that Marc is automatically out,” Rutherford said following the news. “He’s been the franchise goaltender here. Let’s let this play out.”
Fleury was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft and has a 360-207 win-loss record and a .912 completion percentage in his long and successful professional career. The 31-year-old netminder was crucial in the Penguins’ 2009 Stanley Cup win.
Regardless of how things turn out, Pittsburgh is in an extraordinary position of having two high-ceiling goalies. Once Murray comes back from his injury, expect an exciting season and a spectacular battle between the two.
So far, Murray’s recovery has been on track, and no complications have popped up. Still it’s unclear when the young netminder will be healthy enough to be placed on the active roster.
Image credit: Gene J. Puskar/AP Photo
