Matt Murray (ice hockey, born 1998)

Not to be confused with Matt Murray (ice hockey, born 1994).

Matt Murray
Murray with the Texas Stars in 2024
Born (1998-02-02) February 2, 1998 (age 26)
St. Albert, Alberta, Canada
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
NHL team (P)
Cur. team
Former teams		 Nashville Predators
Milwaukee Admirals (AHL)
Dallas Stars
NHL draft Undrafted
Playing career 2022–present

Matthew Murray (born February 2, 1998) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender for the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously played junior in the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) with the Spruce Grove Saints and the United States Hockey League (USHL) with the Fargo Force, as well as NCAA collegiate hockey with the UMass Minutemen.

Playing career

Murray began his junior career in his hometown of St. Albert, spending three seasons with the St. Albert Sabres of the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League (AMBHL) and St. Albert Flyers of the Alberta Major Midget Hockey League (AMMHL). He then began in Junior A with the Spruce Grove Saints of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL), leading the team to an AJHL championship in 2015 and winning both the AJHL and CJHL Best Goaltender awards for 2015–16. Murray ultimately joined the Fargo Force of the United States Hockey League (USHL) for his final junior season.

After the conclusion of his time in juniors, Murray played five seasons of collegiate hockey with the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Murray, posting a career 2.23 goals against average and .916 save percentage, helped the Minutemen to three consecutive[a] Hockey East championships in 2019, 2021, and 2022, with a national championship victory in 2021. In his final season with UMass, Murray was named to the Hockey East Third All-Star team. During this time, Murray gained a degree of notoriety for sharing his name with the then-Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender of the same name, attending the Penguins' rookie camp after his first year at UMass.[1]

As an undrafted free agent, Murray signed an amateur tryout contract with the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League (AHL) after his final season at UMass,[2] appearing in eight games across the regular season and playoffs. During the following offseason, Texas signed Murray to a full two-year contract.[3]

On October 31, 2022, Murray was signed to a one-year entry-level contract by the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL), Texas' major-league affiliate.[4] Shortly afterwards, he was recalled to Dallas' main roster as the result of an injury to starting goaltender Jake Oettinger, with Murray serving as backup to Scott Wedgewood.[5]

After further injuries to Wedgewood, Murray was again recalled to Dallas' roster on February 22, 2023;[6] Murray then made his NHL debut on March 2, earning his first win and saving 19 of 21 shots faced in a 5–2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.[7] Murray later signed a one-year extension with Dallas on June 15, 2023.[8]

On January 8, 2024, Murray earned his first NHL shutout in a 4–0 win over the Minnesota Wild.[9]

As a free agent following the 2023–24 season, Murray signed a one-year contract with the Nashville Predators on July 1, 2024.[10]

International play

Murray appeared for the Canada West team in four games at the 2015 World Junior A Challenge, posting a .911 save percentage and 2.75 goals against average en route to a gold medal.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T/OT MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2014–15 Spruce Grove Saints AJHL 22 14 1 3 1,184 34 2 1.72 .920 13 8 4 — — 0 2.05 .917
2015–16 Spruce Grove Saints AJHL 29 23 4 0 1,639 71 3 2.59 .910 10 6 4 — — 1 1.90 .941
2016–17 Fargo Force USHL 52 30 15 3 2,920 115 5 2.36 .910 1 0 0 — — 0 2.12 .929
2017–18 U. of Massachusetts-Amherst HE 24 9 12 2 1,377 62 4 2.70 .911 — — — — — — — —
2018–19 U. of Massachusetts-Amherst HE 27 20 5 0 1,533 54 1 2.11 .919 — — — — — — — —
2019–20 U. of Massachusetts-Amherst HE 20 13 6 0 1,094 34 3 1.86 .919 — — — — — — — —
2020–21 U. of Massachusetts-Amherst HE 14 10 4 0 851 28 3 1.97 .917 — — — — — — — —
2021–22 U. of Massachusetts-Amherst HE 36 21 12 2 2,128 82 3 2.31 .917 — — — — — — — —
2021–22 Texas Stars AHL 6 5 1 0 357 10 1 1.68 .947 2 0 2 118 3 0 1.52 .952
2022–23 Texas Stars AHL 34 18 10 5 1,925 76 3 2.37 .911 8 5 3 473 22 0 2.79 .909
2022–23 Dallas Stars NHL 3 1 2 0 178 10 0 3.39 .844 — — — — — — — —
2023–24 Texas Stars AHL 31 14 15 2 1846 93 1 3.02 .896 — — — — — — — —
2023–24 Dallas Stars NHL 1 1 0 0 60 0 1 0.00 1.000 — — — — — — — —
NHL totals 4 2 2 0 238 10 1 2.53 .885 — — — — — — — —

International

Year Team Event Result GP W L T/OT MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2015 Canada West WJAC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 5 5 0 0 240 11 0 2.75 .911
Junior totals 5 5 0 0 240 11 0 2.75 .911

Awards and honors

Award Year
AJHL
Champion 2015
Best Goaltender 2016
CJHL
Top Goaltender 2016
NCAA Division I – Hockey East
Conference champion 2019, 2021, 2022
National Champion 2021
All-Hockey East Third Team 2021–22 [11]

Notes

  1. ^ Conference championships were not awarded in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

  1. ^ "Camp invitee Matt Murray enjoys sharing name with Pens netminder". NHL.com. June 27, 2019. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
  2. ^ "Texas Stars Sign UMass Goaltender Matt Murray". Texas Stars. April 5, 2022. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
  3. ^ "Texas Stars Sign Goaltender Matt Murray to Two-Year Contract". Texas Stars. July 18, 2022. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
  4. ^ "Stars sign goaltender Matt Murray to a one-year entry level contract". NHL.com. October 31, 2022. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
  5. ^ DeFranks, Matthew (November 4, 2022). "With Jake Oettinger out, Stars backup goalies tasked with stalling potent Edmonton offense". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved November 6, 2022.
  6. ^ "Stars recall Fredrik Olofsson and Matt Murray from Texas". nhl.com. February 22, 2023. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  7. ^ Miles, Bruce (March 2, 2023). "Hintz scores hat trick, Stars defeat Blackhawks". nhl.com. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  8. ^ "Stars sign goaltender Matt Murray to one-year contract". NHL.com. June 15, 2023. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  9. ^ "Matt Murray earns first career shutout, Dallas Stars win at Minnesota Wild". TSN. January 8, 2024. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  10. ^ "Predators Agree to Terms with Four Free Agents". Nashville Predators. July 1, 2024.
  11. ^ "Hockey East Names 2021-22 Men's All-Star Teams - Hockey East Association". hockeyeastonline.com. Retrieved March 14, 2022.