Whether It's Fleury or Murray, You Should Let Someone Else Give Your Goalie A Big Contract

One drum that I have personally been beating for a while now is that goalies in the NHL and running backs in the NFL should be treated the same when it comes to utilization and salary. I am not a fan of drafting goalies or running backs early in their respected drafts, unless you feel you have a once in a lifetime type of player (Adrian Peterson for example). I also feel that you should get the most of your goalie and/or running back, thank them for their service, and allow another team to give them that big contract they have earned. 

Let's go back in time, to the summer of 2017. The Pittsburgh Penguins, fresh off of their second straight Stanley Cup championship, allowed beloved goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to leave via the Entry-Level draft, where he was taken in the first-round by the Vegas Golden Knights. This infuriated a large portion of the Penguins fan-base, causing some fans to even begin rooting for Vegas (Weird) and/or rooting against current Penguins' goalie Matt Murray, who had just pitched back-to-back shutouts in the Stanley Cup Final against Nashville. Even without any kind of hindsight, the Penguins made the right choice at the time. Murray had outplayed Fleury in the regular season and postseason in 2017, was over 10 years younger than Fleury, and was only making $3.5 million per year against the salary cap, on a team where cap space was a premium. 

So Fleury left his long-time team, went off to Vegas, and to his credit, played the best season of his career, posting a .927 save %, and leading the expansion Golden Knights to a Stanley Cup final, marking the third-time in his career that he started in net in the Cup Final. Great story. However, since that initial season, Fleury has posted a .909 save %, including a .905 save % this season. Fleury also currently has a .886 save % in the postseason, where he once again finds himself as the backup to Robin Lehner, who has a better save % in both the postseason and regular season. Sound familiar? Worst part for the Knights, Fleury's agent is causing drama on Twitter, claiming that Vegas stabbed Fleury in the back by benching him, with Fleury still having two more years left on his contract, with a $7 million salary cap hit. Yikes. 

Ironically, Murray and the Penguins are in a similar position. Murray, who posted surreal number and won two Cups as a rookie, hasn't been stellar to say the least since he become the number one guy. While the Penguins certainly benefited from having a cheaper net-minder in net, Murray has posted a .909 save % the last three seasons combined, being very inconsistent. Now, Murray's a restricted free-agent, and is due a pay increase. Despite not having a great season, the fact is his career stats are still decent, plus, he helped a team win two cups, so some GM out there is going to pay him. Like Fleury, the Penguins would once again be smart to thank Murray for the great memories and contributions, and let someone else do that. 

The Penguins have already reportedly said that they're not going to spend up the cap limit like they usually do, because of a loss in profits, so there's no way they are in shape to give a goaltender, who hasn't played up to his potential a large long-term contract. But it's not just Murray, the Penguins shouldn't give any goalie a big contract. There is no need to do so, not when your team is built around Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. In fact, I'd argue that the back-to-back cups with Murray in net proves this. Those teams were juggernauts, and the team won with a playoff game with three-different goalies in the process of those consecutive cups.

It's all come full-circle and it always will. Murray, who was younger and cheaper than Fleury, replaced him, and now, Tristan Jarry is going to be a cheaper option to replace Murray with. Not to mention that Jarry outplayed Murray the same way Murray outplayed Fleury. It's the circle of life, just with goalies. 

Now 

Cap hits for the last few cup winning goalies: Jordan Binnington 650,000 Braden Holtby 6.1 million Matt Murray: 902,000 Matt Murray: 902,000 Corey Crawford: 6 million Jonathan Quick: 5.8 million Corey Crawford: $2,666,667 Jonathan Quick: $1,800,000 Tim Thomas: 5 million

Not one team has won the cup in the salary cap era paying a goalie over $6.1 million per season, and right now there's only three teams left in the playoffs that have a goalie making more than that mark (Boston, Tampa Bay, Vegas) and two of those goalies aren't even starting for their respected team at the moment. In fact, I can't think of any team that has benefited from giving a goalie a big contract in this era. However, I can think of plenty of contracts that turned out to be disasters: Cam Ward, Ilya Bryzgalov, Sergie Bobrovsky, and Carey Price come to mind. Goalies are just too inconsistent in today's NHL. One minute they're winning the Cup, or a Vezina, the next minute they're benched for a guy who rides a Zamboni for a living. The wear and tear of the position both psychically and mentally is something that should be respected, but also considered when you're talking about giving a guy a deal that is longer than three or four years. Just like running backs in the NFL, the best thing to do is ride them when they're hot, get the most out of them, then let them go once they want that big deal.