Seattle Kraken general manager Jason Botterill added intrigue to the opening of NHL free agency in July, signing goalie Matt Murray to a one-year, $1 million deal. At a media availability Thursday, Botterill exponentially increased the intrigue.
Injuries have taken a major bite out of Murray’s career. The goalie won back-to-back Stanley Cups with Pittsburgh in 2016 and 2017 – his first two NHL seasons. (Botterill was Penguins assistant GM for both those titles.) After that, Murray went from charmed to cursed – four concussions, an unspecified lower body injury, and an adductor injury, and in 2023 underwent hip surgery.
Since 2020, he’s only played 75 NHL games, split between the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs. So, was Murray signed to replace the departed Ales Stezka between the pipes at AHL Coachella Valley? Would he be given the chance to compete with incumbent Philipp Grubauer for the backup job in Seattle behind Joey Daccord?
Turns out the answer might be behind door number three. And speaking of three…
“We have ideas on carrying three goalies,” Botterill said. “We also have ideas if there’s injuries that we have to make an adjustment from that standpoint. But we’re ready for whatever materializes over the next couple of weeks.”
Olympics-Sized Goalie Decisions
The NHL will take a two-week February break, so many of its players can represent their native countries at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. That means the October-January schedule will include fewer off-days than in a non-Olympics season. And that means carrying three NHL-caliber netminders could be prudent, to avoid burnout.
Both Grubauer and Daccord missed time with injuries last year.
“You look at the schedule, we’re going to need a lot of depth,” Botterill explained. “We’re all excited about the Olympics and what it’s going to do to grow our sport, but it makes it very difficult on our team when traveling out west. That’s why it’s going to be really important throughout this entire training camp of not only evaluating players that are going to be here for game one against Anaheim, but who are the players that we’re going to be calling up as the season progresses.”
The peril is a three-goalie rotation of any sort could leave all three in a funk. Daccord has said in the past that he’d play every game if the Kraken would let him. Grubauer has said he feels sharpest when he gets regular game action – citing his stellar work playing every other night during the 2023 playoffs. And a proud pro like Murray certainly doesn’t want to spend most games watching his new club from the press box. I asked Lane Lambert about that.
Glenn Dreyfuss, DJLR: “Jason mentioned that you might carry three goaltenders. That sounds like a challenge for a coach to have three guys who all want to play. Have you thought about what type of rotation you might use to try to keep them at least somewhat happy?”
Lane Lambert, Kraken coach: “Well, it’s a great question and I’m not dismissing it or anything, but for right now, training camp is about evaluating and trying to find out who steps up to the plate, not only in the goaltender position, but in any and every other position. Certainly, you know, we’ll have to have to have a plan in place.”
Like Botterill, Lambert has a Matt Murray connection. The goalie was in the Maple Leafs system last season while Lambert was a Toronto assistant coach. Murray and new Kraken goaltending coach Colin Zulianello know each other as well, as both hail from Thunder Bay, Ont.
Botterill left the strong impression that unless one of Daccord, Grubauer, or Murray prove they don’t deserve to stick, there’s going to be a goalie trio for the first time in Seattle.
“We’re going to need the three of them throughout the year. We’re ecstatic about (Nikke) Kokko and (Victor) Osman as young goalies developing our system. But you don’t want to throw them in NHL games until they’re ready. They need to play at the American Hockey League level.”
Recent NHL Three-Goalie Rotations
As teams rethink goalie workloads, some form of three-goalie rotations have become more common. Another reason for keeping three is the fear of losing one to another team through waivers, required to send most players to the minors. The Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings each carried three for almost the entire 2024-25 season. In 2023-24, five teams opened with three goalies on their NHL rosters.
Alex Lyon spoke about being part of a Red Wings goaler trio in 2023. “We have a very healthy relationship between the three of us, which is important. Because when one person is succeeding, it helps the others succeed. It’s just very difficult when things aren’t going that well, so we are out here to support each other, push each other, and at the end of the day, the three of us are competing against ourselves, trying to be better than you were the day before.”
Sure, but this summer Lyon bolted from Detroit to sign with the Buffalo Sabres. Even respected Canadian media outlets can’t agree. TSN.ca headline: “Here’s why carrying 3 goalies with Montreal makes sense.” Montreal Gazette headline: “Canadiens’ goaltending situation is a murky mess.”
Having Murray contribute just $1 million to the salary cap removes one Kraken obstacle for keeping a third netminder. An unavoidable hurdle is that NHL teams are allowed a maximum of three “healthy scratches.” Using one of those slots on a goalie means less flexibility in options for an injury replacement forward or defenseman. There’s the previously raised playing time issue, as well as getting three goalies enough reps with two nets at practice.
As coach Lambert said in concluding his remarks, “Let’s just see where we go from here.”