Penguins/NHL
A long playoff run with the Pittsburgh Penguins didn’t enhance Douglas Murray’s free agent value. The 33 year old defenseman is finally off the market, agreeing to a one year, $1.5 million contract with the Montreal Canadiens today.Murray had also been in talks with the Canucks and Hurricanes but received few offers throughout the summer.
A third pairing type defenseman who can eat up minutes on the penalty kill, Murray added a big dimension to the Penguins penalty kill in the post-season, but scouts I’ve spoke with this summer about Murray feel he is a slug on the ice and there’s a lot of bad tape on him last season from San Jose. As more and more teams value analytical statistics, players like Murray becoming less coveted.
Murray, though, is a great locker room guy and should play well under Michel Therrien. A top priority for the Canadiens this summer has been adding size and toughness after getting pushed around by the Ottawa Senators in the first round. Montreal is getting Murray on a very good deal as he was coming off a four year deal that paid him $2.5 million per season.
The Penguins gave little to no consideration to resigning to Murray prior to free agency. Pittsburgh’s big splash on the free agent market this summer was signing 34 year old defenseman Rob Scuderi to a four year deal.
