Murray sees 'really good fit' with Senators after trade by Penguins

Matt Murray was traded to the Ottawa Senators by the Pittsburgh Penguins for Jonathan Gruden and a second-round pick (No. 52) in the 2020 NHL Draft on Wednesday.

The 26-year-old goalie said he would like to sign a long-term contract with Ottawa; he can become a restricted free agent Friday, Oct. 9.

"I hope we can get something done so I can be here for years to come," Murray said Thursday. "It's a place I'm pretty familiar with. I live a few [hours] drive away now. I played in the Ontario Hockey League, so I played in Ottawa [a lot] growing up. I'm from Thunder Bay, so I'm an Ontario kid. And, yeah, it presents a really good opportunity for me and my family. I see a really good fit there, so I'm very excited.

"Definitely mixed emotions for sure. It's my first time being traded, so it's something new for me. I had a lot of good years in Pittsburgh, obviously, so I'll always miss it there, but definitely a ton of excitement."

Murray was 20-11-5 with a 2.87 goals-against average, an .899 save percentage and one shutout in 38 games with Pittsburgh this season. He was 1-2 with a 2.50 GAA and .914 save percentage in the best-of-5 Stanley Cup Qualifiers, when the No. 5 seed Penguins lost in four games to the No. 12 seed Montreal Canadiens.

"Without a doubt Matt Murray will be our No. 1 goalie this year," Senators general manager Pierre Dorion told NHL Network on Wednesday. "I've spoken publicly that [goalie] Anders Nilsson has had, still has symptoms from a concussion suffered in December, which is unfortunate. He can't do stressful physical activities. So at this point in time, you know we've been working on this trade with [Penguins GM] Jim Rutherford, who was great to deal with, and we were we were able to pull the trigger this morning."

Nilsson, who was 9-9-2 with a 3.18 GAA and .908 save percentage in 20 games (19 starts) this season, did not play after Dec. 16.

The Senators announced Sept. 23 that goalie Craig Anderson would not be offered a contract for next season. The 39-year-old, Ottawa's leader with 202 wins, was 11-17-2 with a 3.25 GAA and .902 save percentage in 34 games (31 starts) this season.

Murray won the Stanley Cup twice (2016, 2017) with the Penguins but split No. 1 duties with Tristan Jarry this season. Jarry, who was 20-12-1 with a 2.43 GAA and .921 save percentage, signed a three-year, $10.5 million contract (average annual value of $3.5 million) with the Penguins on Oct. 3.

"Thank you, Pittsburgh for some incredible years," Murray wrote on Instagram. "I cherished every opportunity I had to step onto the ice in a Penguins jersey. I learned so many valuable lessons, developed so many great friendships, and experienced some truly awesome moments. Thank you to the city of Pittsburgh, team ownership and management staff, Jim Rutherford, (coach) Mike Sullivan, (goaltending coach) Mike Buckley, all of the assistant coaches, training and equipment staff, PR staff, and any/everyone in the organization. Most importantly, to all of my teammates, thank you for your friendship, your insights, and for always having my back. It means the world to me. I am truly grateful for every opportunity."

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Selected by the Penguins in the third round (No. 83) of the 2012 NHL Draft, Murray is 117-53-19 with a 2.67 GAA, .914 save percentage and 11 shutouts in 199 regular-season games (193 starts). He is 29-11 with a 2.18 GAA, .921 save percentage and six shutouts in 51 Stanley Cup Playoff games (50 starts).

"I won't get into how many offers [we received]," Rutherford said Wednesday. "The fact of the matter is, the goalie market is flooded right now with goalies, and this was a long process in trying to get the goalie situation cleared up. I didn't have an offer that I could take until this morning. Based on where the market is, I think we did pretty good to get the second-round pick and get a prospect in Gruden. I would say at the point I got to, it was the only offer for me to consider."

The NHL salary cap will remain at $81.5 million for next season, which is targeted to begin Jan. 1, 2021.

"Based on the cap and what we need to do to go forward, this was the only option," Rutherford said. "It was getting to a point where I wondered that we go through the whole process, arbitration and everything, and we may have to walk away from arbitration and not get anything in return for Matt, which would have been unfortunate."

The Senators have not begun contract talks with Murray.

"Unfortunately, we didn't get permission to talk to him while discussing this potential trade. And I always respect those wishes," Dorion said. "We've had it on the other side where it's been a difficult situation. So we haven't talked to him. We plan on talking to him over the course of the next few days. We had bigger things to take care of today. But just in talking to him, the excitement in his voice, it felt like he was someone who just got drafted. He was so excited about our team, about our good young players, and the opportunity to reestablish himself as one of the premier goalies in the NHL."

Casey DeSmith is expected to back up Jarry for Pittsburgh next season. He last played for the Penguins in 2018-19, when he was 15-11-5 with a 2.75 GAA and .916 save percentage.

"Casey DeSmith two seasons ago, he was very good for us. He had good numbers," Rutherford said. "So I'm comfortable with that. I mean, we're going to have to get more depth, maybe a third goalie to keep an eye on. ... But if we were starting the season tonight, I'd be fine with those two goalies."

Gruden scored 66 points (30 goals, 36 assists) in 59 games with London of the Ontario Hockey League this season. Selected by the Senators in the fourth round (No. 95) of the 2018 NHL Draft, the 20-year-old forward was an alternate captain for the United States when it finished second at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship. His father, John Gruden, is an assistant with the New York Islanders.

"It's just a top-notch organization," Jonathan Gruden said. "I mean, a bunch of Stanley Cups. [Sidney] Crosby, [Evgeni] Malkin, all the players that play there. It's awesome. I'm so excited to join the organization. Just so much class in the organization, and I'm so excited to be a part of it."

The Penguins selected goalie Joel Blomqvist from Karpat in Finland's junior league with the No. 52 pick. Blomqvist, No. 3 in NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of International goalies, had a 1.66 GAA, .931 save percentage and five shutouts in 34 games in 2019-20. He's played two games with Karpat in Liiga, Finland's top professional league, in 2020-21 and is 2-0-0 with a 1.50 GAA and .914 save percentage.

NHL.com staff writer Mike Zeisberger and independent correspondent Wes Crosby contributed to this report