The Seattle Kraken added some championship experience to their roster when free agency opened on July 1, signing goaltender Matt Murray to a one-year, $1-million deal with the team.
On Friday’s episode of the JD Bunkis Podcast, the former Maple Leafs netminder joined the show to discuss his time in Toronto, why there’s a serious lack of goaltenders being developed, and what led to his decision to choose the Kraken.
“There are a lot of things that attracted me out there; the biggest one was the people for sure, though,” said Murray. “I worked with Jason Botterill in Pittsburgh; we won a couple of Cups together when he was the assistant there. Obviously, I know Lane [Lambert] from last year with the Leafs and their new goalie coach, Colin Zulianello, too.”
Relying on familiar faces to help ease the transition to a new team is something that the 31-year-old has depended on throughout his career. In fact, it is one of the reasons he wanted to don the Maple Leaf, an experience he will forever be grateful for.
“There is a special place in my heart for the Toronto Maple Leafs. It’s my dad’s favourite team, and it was the first NHL game I ever went to,” said the Thunder Bay native. “I thought it was the honour of a lifetime to wear that jersey; it had a special, special place in my heart just from family history – I enjoyed every second; I absolutely loved it.”
Looking ahead to the future of goaltending in hockey, Murray believes the reason for the lack of quality goaltenders being developed nowadays is quite simple.
“I don’t think it’s as cool to be a goalie as it once was,” stated Murray. “Goalies kind of had the cool factor back in the day, and maybe that incentivized a lot more kids to want to play.”
The former Penguin also points to the pressure and blame players often have to face when in net as another reason young players could choose a different position. At the end of the day, though, he believes being a goalie just doesn’t look as enjoyable as it used to be.
“Goalies do look a little bit cookie-cutter to me nowadays; I feel like it’s become such a technical game,” said Murray. “I think goalies have lost a little bit of their athleticism, and that’s why I find a lot of them that come up nowadays just look the same – you look at goalies now, and it just seems like it’s, you know, not as much fun as it once was.”
One current goaltender that Murray does have a lot of love for, though, is former Leaf teammate Joseph Woll.
“I love Joe; I loved all the time that I spent with him,” said Murray. “I think that’s one of the things that makes Joe so mentally resilient is that he has a very wide perspective on life – the bigger your perspective can be on the world, [the better] you’re going to be able to handle those pressure-packed moments. I’ll miss sitting next to him, but in Toronto, they got a real keeper there in my opinion.”
Murray spent the last three seasons in Toronto, starting two games last year, posting a 3.54 goals-against average and a .879 save percentage. He now joins a Kraken goaltender group that already features Philipp Grubauer and Joey Daccord.
from Sportsnet.ca
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