Dan Kingerski: There was an increase in trade chatter last night. Another goaltender trade could be coming.
Dan Kingerski: The Penguins’ ability to package Jack Johnson and Matt Murray may not be as far fetched as some might think. Not all teams are down on Johnson.
Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Live: The Pittsburgh Penguins signed Tristan Jarry to a three-year deal yesterday at a $3.5 million cap hit, buying one year of unrestricted free agency. Matt Murray is pending RFA and the Penguins are expected to qualify him so they would keep his rights.
“We’ll qualify him next week,” Rutherford said. “I would suspect it will be an arbitration case, and we’ll just walk through it as each event comes along.”
The Penguins have just over $2.6 million in cap space after Jarry’s signing. GM Jim Rutherford has been trying to trade Murray but the goalie free agent and trade market is crowded this offseason.
“It impacts the decision that teams are making,” Rutherford said. “But when you look at the free agent market, there’s good goalies but there aren’t any that are in their mid-20s that have won two Stanley (Cup titles). So it’s like going shopping. You pick what you like. If there’s a team that thinks enough of Matt, they’re going to come knocking and they’re going to make a trade. If there’s not, we will go through the process and see where the arbitration ends up.”
Rutherford added that he has been talking to teams about Murray, but it is possible that he remains with the team. They would obviously have to make some moves to make it fit.
Rob Rossi: The Penguins won’t be qualifying Dominik Simon. He would have been looking for a raise from the $750,000 to maybe in the $1.25 million range. The Penguins don’t have room for that. He’s a versatile forward, which is something they could use though.
Mike DeFabo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The Pittsburgh Penguins will be sending qualifying offers to restricted free agents Matt Murray, Sam Lafferty and Anthony Angello. Forward Dominik Simon won’t be getting an offer from the Penguins.
If Murray is going to remain with the Penguins, they are going to have to move out salary to fit his ‘possible arbitration’ number in. Trading Murray is their best route to go, but it’s not going to be easy.
“Matt is in the same position Marc-Andre Fleury was when we had to let Fleury go and we didn’t want to,” Rutherford said. “It was a cap decision. We couldn’t fit him in. Now, it’s the same thing with Matt.
“We’ll qualify him next week and go through the arbitration process. Maybe we get to a number that we can fit him back in. At this point in time, it won’t be at the number he’s looking for.”
