Rumor: Matt Murray to the Seattle Kraken

The Ottawa Senators made some noise this past offseason with their collection of moves, including signing free-agent netminder Matt Murray from the Pittsburgh Penguins. After an up-and-down season to say the least, there are some rumblings that the Senators will expose Murray in the upcoming expansion draft to the Seattle Kraken.

The 26-year-old has three seasons left on his contract that's paying him $6.25 million per season. This news isn't totally unexpected as when Murray signed the deal there was note that the no-trade protection wouldn't kick in until the start of the 2022-23 season, giving the Senators the option to expose him if they chose too. Sounds like that could be their next move.

The Senators have been really impressed with 22-year-old youngster Filip Gustavsson and will be looking to sign him to an extension and already currently have Anton Forsberg under contract for next season. As for Seattle, they have some great options on the free-agent market when it comes to their first netminder, so it's not a given they would even select Murray if he was exposed. Names like Frederik Andersen, Tuukka Rask, Philipp Grubauer, Antti Raanta, and Petr Mrazek to name a few. 

The Kraken know if they want to jump into the league and have immediate success, they will need strong goaltending much like the Vegas Golden Knights had with Marc-Andre Fleury. While Murray might be one of the better goalies exposed, it will be interesting to watch what direction the Kraken decide to take in their crease.

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