On Wednesday morning, goaltender Matt Murray got the call back up to the NHL. How you may ask? He was placed on the IR earlier this month, and unlike last season he hasn’t been playing in the AHL.
Dallas Stars, Matt Murray. You know, the one who can stay healthy and doesn’t have a $6.25 million cap hit. That Matt Murray!
Dallas’ Scott Wedgewood didn’t practice yesterday and had a maintenance day after ‘tweaking’ something in Saturday’s 4-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, leading to Murray’s call-up by Dallas GM Jim Nill.
Murray joined the Dallas Stars organization in 2021/22 after five seasons at the University of Massachusetts (NCAA). In his final season at the University of Massachusetts, he led the Minutemen to the NCAA Tournament with a 21-12-2 record, a 2.31 GAA, and a .917 SV %in 36 appearances. In five seasons at UMass, he went 73-39-4 in 121 games and helped lead the Minutemen to win the 2020/21 National Championship.
Originally undrafted, he helped lead the University of Massachusetts to two Hockey East titles. Murray holds the Umass all-time record for wins with 73 and shutouts with 14.
He made six appearances with Dallas’ AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars, and at the end of the 2021/22 season, he had a 5-1 record with a 1.68 GAA and .947 SV %. Murray signed a two-year AHL contract with the club before the start of the 2022/23 season on July 18, 2022.
After five games with Texas to start the 2022/23 season, the Dallas Stars signed Murray on October 31, 2022, to a one-year entry-level contract that runs through the 2022/23 season.
The 6-foot-1, 195-pound native of St. Albert, Alberta, has a record of 13-8-5-2 with a 2.43 GAA and .905 SV % with Texas this season.
Murray will back up starting goaltender Jake Oettinger tonight when Dallas hosts the Chicago Blackhawks at American Airlines Center.
