Matt Murray

Matthew Murray (born February 2, 1998) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender for the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played in the NHL for the Dallas Stars, with whom he signed as an undrafted free agent in 2022. Murray played junior hockey in the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) with the Spruce Grove Saints and the United States Hockey League (USHL) with the Fargo Force, as well as NCAA collegiate hockey with the UMass Minutemen.

Playing career Murray began his junior career in his hometown of St. Albert, spending three seasons with the St. Albert Sabres of the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League (AMBHL) and St. Albert Flyers of the Alberta Major Midget Hockey League (AMMHL). He then began in Junior A with the Spruce Grove Saints of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL), leading the team to an AJHL championship in 2015 and winning both the AJHL and CJHL Best Goaltender awards for 2015–16. Murray ultimately joined the Fargo Force of the United States Hockey League (USHL) for his final junior season.

After the conclusion of his time in juniors, Murray played five seasons of collegiate hockey with the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Murray, posting a career 2.23 goals against average and .916 save percentage, helped the Minutemen to three consecutive Hockey East championships in 2019, 2021, and 2022, with a national championship victory in 2021. In his final season with UMass, Murray was named to the Hockey East Third All-Star team. During this time, Murray gained a degree of notoriety for sharing his name with the then-Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender of the same name, attending the Penguins' rookie camp after his first year at UMass.

As an undrafted free agent, Murray signed an amateur tryout contract with the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League (AHL) after his final season at UMass, appearing in eight games across the regular season and playoffs. During the following offseason, Texas signed Murray to a full two-year contract.

On October 31, 2022, Murray was signed to a one-year entry-level contract by the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL), Texas' major-league affiliate. Shortly afterwards, he was recalled to Dallas' main roster as the result of an injury to starting goaltender Jake Oettinger, with Murray serving as backup to Scott Wedgewood.

After further injuries to Wedgewood, Murray was again recalled to Dallas' roster on February 22, 2023; Murray then made his NHL debut on March 2, earning his first win and saving 19 of 21 shots faced in a 5–2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. Murray later signed a one-year extension with Dallas on June 15, 2023.

On January 8, 2024, Murray earned his first NHL shutout in a 4–0 win over the Minnesota Wild.

As a free agent following the 2023–24 season, Murray signed a one-year contract with the Nashville Predators on July 1, 2024. In his first season with the team's AHL affiliate Milwaukee Admirals, he appeared in 42 games, leading the league in wins (27) and save percentage (.931), while also ranking fourth in the league in goals-against average (2.12). In recognition of his play, he was named to the Second All-Star Team. On April 9th, 2025, Murray signed a two-year extension with Nashville worth $775,000 per year.

International play Murray appeared for the Canada West team in four games at the 2015 World Junior A Challenge, posting a .911 save percentage and 2.75 goals against average en route to a gold medal.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP W L T/OT MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV% 2014–15 Spruce Grove Saints AJHL 22 14 1 3 1,184 34 2 1.72 .920 13 8 4 — — 0 2.05 .917 2015–16 Spruce Grove Saints AJHL 29 23 4 0 1,639 71 3 2.59 .910 10 6 4 — — 1 1.90 .941 2016–17 Fargo Force USHL 52 30 15 3 2,920 115 5 2.36 .910 1 0 0 — — 0 2.12 .929 2017–18 U. of Massachusetts Amherst HE 24 9 12 2 1,377 62 4 2.70 .911 — — — — — — — — 2018–19 U. of Massachusetts Amherst HE 27 20 5 0 1,533 54 1 2.11 .919 — — — — — — — — 2019–20 U. of Massachusetts Amherst HE 20 13 6 0 1,094 34 3 1.86 .919 — — — — — — — — 2020–21 U. of Massachusetts Amherst HE 14 10 4 0 851 28 3 1.97 .917 — — — — — — — — 2021–22 U. of Massachusetts Amherst HE 36 21 12 2 2,128 82 3 2.31 .917 — — — — — — — — 2021–22 Texas Stars AHL 6 5 1 0 357 10 1 1.68 .947 2 0 2 118 3 0 1.52 .952 2022–23 Texas Stars AHL 34 18 10 5 1,925 76 3 2.37 .911 8 5 3 473 22 0 2.79 .909 2022–23 Dallas Stars NHL 3 1 2 0 178 10 0 3.39 .844 — — — — — — — — 2023–24 Texas Stars AHL 31 14 15 2 1846 93 1 3.02 .896 — — — — — — — — 2023–24 Dallas Stars NHL 1 1 0 0 60 0 1 0.00 1.000 — — — — — — — — 2024–25 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 43 28 10 5 2577 89 4 2.07 .932 10 5 5 599 32 0 3.20 .878 2025–26 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 47 22 22 2 2715 128 4 2.83 .904 3 1 2 179 5 0 1.68 .954 NHL totals 4 2 2 0 238 10 1 2.53 .885 — — — — — — — —

International Year Team Event Result GP W L T/OT MIN GA SO GAA SV% 2015 Canada West WJAC 5 5 0 0 240 11 0 2.75 .911Junior totals 5 5 0 0 240 11 0 2.75 .911

Awards and honors Award Year AJHL Champion 2015 Best Goaltender 2016 CJHL Top Goaltender 2016NCAA Division I – Hockey East Conference champion 2019, 2021, 2022 National Champion 2021 All-Hockey East Third Team 2021–22 AHL Second All-Star Team 2024–25