Rebekah Mohrmann
10/20/2016
Student Advisory Board Member
The Pittsburgh Penguins announced today that goalie Matt Murray has signed a three-year contract extension at an annual average of $3.75 million. Most fans would be ecstatic at this news, but many are concerned about what this means for the future of goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.
The addition of an NHL team in Las Vegas requires the NHL to host an expansion draft, in which the Vegas team is required to pick one player from every other NHL team, for a total of 30 players. Each team is only allowed to protect one goalie, which causes a problem when you look at Pittsburgh’s goalie situation.
Both Fleury and Murray are outstanding in their position, and in an ideal world Penguins GM Jim Rutherford would keep both and have the depth at goaltender that every GM wants. But if both players are still on the roster at the end of this season the Pens will only be able to protect one goalie, and due to Fleury’s no-movement clause that goalie would be him, leaving Murray open to be selected. If the Pens want to protect Murray, they would have to trade Fleury before the expansion draft occurred.
Rutherford has given no indication to what he might do, and told reporters after today’s morning skate that he wasn’t worried about the expansion draft at the moment. Guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens this season!
10/20/2016
Student Advisory Board Member
The Pittsburgh Penguins announced today that goalie Matt Murray has signed a three-year contract extension at an annual average of $3.75 million. Most fans would be ecstatic at this news, but many are concerned about what this means for the future of goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.
The addition of an NHL team in Las Vegas requires the NHL to host an expansion draft, in which the Vegas team is required to pick one player from every other NHL team, for a total of 30 players. Each team is only allowed to protect one goalie, which causes a problem when you look at Pittsburgh’s goalie situation.
Both Fleury and Murray are outstanding in their position, and in an ideal world Penguins GM Jim Rutherford would keep both and have the depth at goaltender that every GM wants. But if both players are still on the roster at the end of this season the Pens will only be able to protect one goalie, and due to Fleury’s no-movement clause that goalie would be him, leaving Murray open to be selected. If the Pens want to protect Murray, they would have to trade Fleury before the expansion draft occurred.
Rutherford has given no indication to what he might do, and told reporters after today’s morning skate that he wasn’t worried about the expansion draft at the moment. Guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens this season!