Matt Murray will forever remember playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The 31-year-old goaltender, acquired by the Maple Leafs from the Ottawa Senators on July 11, 2022, signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the Seattle Kraken on the opening day of free agency this summer. Over two seasons with Toronto, Murray appeared in 28 games, winning 15 and putting up a .901 save percentage.
Murray spent most of last season with the AHL's Toronto Marlies as Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll held the reins with the Maple Leafs. The veteran goaltender played 21 AHL games, registering 10 wins and a .934 save percentage, the highest among goaltenders in the league who played 20 or more games.
It was his first full season of hockey after having bilateral hip surgery in September 2023, which kept him out the entire 2023-24 season.
The Thunder Bay, Ontario native joined The JD Bunkis Podcast on Friday and looked back on his time with the Maple Leafs (the team he grew up cheering for), plus what the organization has in Joseph Woll.
"I loved all my time I spent with him. We sat beside each other pretty much everywhere. We had a lot of great discussions about all kinds of things. Almost never about hockey, to be honest," Murray told Bunkis of Woll.
"It was always about other stuff, and I think that's one of the things that makes Joe so mentally resilient, is that he has a very wide perspective on life. He has a very big perspective on life. He's into a lot of other things, other than hockey, which I think is a huge benefit as a goalie... I really enjoyed spending time with him and getting to know him. I'll miss sitting next to him, but in Toronto, they got a real keeper there in my opinion."
With a lot of chatter recently about the pressure of playing in Toronto, Murray said that didn't go into his decision to remain in Toronto over the years. He said his time with the Pittsburgh Penguins, where he won two Stanley Cups, prepared him for the Toronto market.
"I think a big thing for me was, I went through a lot of that same type of stuff in Pittsburgh. Like, Pittsburgh is a very pressure-packed market as well, especially when we had our really good team there. If we lost two or three games in a row, you'd start to feel the energy shift there.
"That probably helped me in the sense that I'd been in an extremely pressure-packed environment already," he said.
Toronto will always have a special place in Murray's heart. He and his father, James, who passed away in January 2018, often watched the Maple Leafs on TV when he was young.
"It was my dad's favorite team, and it was the first NHL hockey game I ever went to with my dad," Murray said, before revealing what it was like to wear the blue and white jersey.
"I thought it was the honor of a lifetime to wear that jersey. Like I said, it had a special place in my heart just from family history, so it wasn't much of a consideration for me. I enjoyed every second in Toronto...
"I loved every second. I'm super grateful and like I said, it was the honor of a lifetime to get to wear that jersey and to have my game-worn jerseys that I'll be able to show my kids one day. They got to see me play. They were young, but they got to see me play for the Leafs, and that's incredibly special for me."
