The Toronto Maple Leafs take a big risk with new goaltender

The Toronto Maple Leafs found their new goaltender. After saying goodbye to Petr Mrazek at the draft when they traded him to Chicago, and after allowing Jack Campbell to hit the open market, the big question around the Leafs was who their goaltender would be. Now we have an idea.

On Monday the Toronto Maple Leafs traded for Matt Murray, a two-time Stanley Cup Champion goaltender.

A lot has changed since Murray won two back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins, he has spent his last two seasons with the Ottawa Senators, and he was not able to win the starters net exclusively in Ottawa thanks to some poor play.

Now Murray joins the Leafs looking for a fresh start on a good contending roster, and the main thing on a lot of people’s minds this morning is how much of a risk this is.

Here is how the trade breaks down:

For the Leafs, this is a risky move. Yes they have their new goaltender for the next two seasons but he is definitely not an upgrade over what the team had in the past. Murray could not win the starters crease in Ottawa, and betting on his redemption with two years of almost five million dollars in cap space could make or break a team trying to win the Stanley Cup.

Here is how Murray has played so far in his career:

I will say, I do not absolutely despise this deal. This is definitely a gamble for the Leafs, but imagine if it works out. The Maple Leafs have a good team from top to bottom and they can make a decent goaltender good or a good goaltender great. All Murray needs to do for this team is be consistent and not totally leave the team out to dry – and I think he can do that.

Obviously, there are some great goaltenders available right now like Darcy Kuemper for example, but any of those netminders was going to cost the team more than what they are paying Murray right now.

The Leafs are betting on the fact that their team is good enough to win right now, and even though he has struggled, Matt Murray is a two-time Stanley Cup champion who definitely is going to appreciate a fresh start with this team.