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Montreal Canadiens: Ranking The Canadian Division’s Goaltenders

By Ken MacMillan

TORONTO, ONTARIO - AUGUST 12: Carey Price Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ONTARIO - AUGUST 12: Carey Price Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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TORONTO, ONTARIO – AUGUST 01: Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photo/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ONTARIO – AUGUST 01: Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photo/Getty Images) /

Matt Murray and Marcus Hogberg

It is not often a team has the ability to acquire a 26 year old goaltender who has two Stanley Cups on his resume. If the opportunity does arise, you would expect it to cost more than just a second round pick. And you definitely wouldn’t expect to have the worst goaltending in your division if you were able to pull that deal off.

However, the Ottawa Senators were able to acquire Matt Murray for a second round pick this offseason, and look to have the worst goaltending tandem in Canada.

Murray was excellent in two playoff runs for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and 2017. The problem is, he hasn’t been very good at all since then.

After taking the Pens to two Stanley Cup titles and finally taking over as the undisputed number one goalie with Marc-Andre Fleury headed to Vegas in 2017, Murray’s numbers took a downward turn. He had a 2.92 goals against average and a .907 save percentage in 49 games for the 2017-18 season.

The Thunder Bay, Ontario native followed that up with a better season, posting a 2.69 GAA and .919 SV% in 2018-19 in 50 games. This past season was Murray’s worst, finishing the year with a 2.87 GAA and a .899 SV%.

Now, his teams predicted to be the worst in its division instead of the Cup contender he was on. Oh and it has Erik Gubranson on the top defence pairing.

His backup is Marcus Hogberg who has played 28 career NHL games with a 3.25 GAA and a .901 SV%. There is a lot to like about the way the 2025-26 Ottawa Senators are shaping up, but the 2020-21 version will go through a very long shortened season.

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