Re: Has Murray made Fleury expendable
Originally Posted by
Axeman33
I don't think Fleury loses his starting job next year and I also don't think he gets dealt. It think it was inevitable that Murray was going to be in Pittsburgh next season anyway, backing up up Fleury.
Murray is having a damn fine run, but lots of young goalies have had fine runs in the past but the problem with young goalies is they can run hot and cold. Right now, Murray is the hot goalie.
Fleury is the proven starter; they showed that when they gave him his shot in game five. That wasn't a pity start, they want him in there and wanted him to do well. It didn't work out and this just isn't the time of the year to let him work his game back.
Why would they trade Fleury when they can have both he and Murray there next year. Next season is a whole different year and who knows what Matt Murray the Pens will get. They DO know what Fleury they will get; the same one they've had for years now and that's why they invested in him.
Here's the thing. They don't really know what Fleury they will get (in the playoffs). And for the Pens, it's all about the playoffs. Sure he was good in the playoffs last year. Great even. That said, the Pens were playing a low-chance defensively managed form of hockey, which is going to make most goalies look pretty good. Their Achilles heel was scoring last playoffs, and it's always a trade off between prioritizing scoring and defending.
At least 3 of the prior 5 years Fleury was a big part of the problem in the playoffs. Especially against the Flyers, the Pens just melted down. No ability to bounce back or stay mentally strong. This was both Fleury (imploding after a bad goal or two and losing a couple games each series) but also Malkin, Crosby, etc.
I really like Murray's stability. He's calm. He might not have the same ability to absolutely steal games as does Fleury - but I'm not sure the Pens need that. They need a stable presence in net - so far so good. Ideally, of course, they'd have time to sort this out. But assuming expansion, they don't. If Murray takes the Pens all the way (knock on wood), (or if they make the Final and lose but it's not on Murray) they keep both next year and take a year to transition giving Murray 60% of the starts. They expose Fleury to the expansion draft such that it's win-win. If someone grabs Fleury, they have cap space to play with. If nobody does, they've got a reasonably priced veteran goalie to mentor Murray.
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Categories: G, A, P, PIM, +/-, PPP, SOG, FW, Hits, Blocks, W, GAA, Sv% Saves
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G: Price, Bernier, Grubauer, Pickard