Matthew Murray (born February 2, 1998) is a Canadian professional ice hockey

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as goalie or netminder) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their own team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays ...

for the

Milwaukee Admirals The Milwaukee Admirals are a professional ice hockey team based in Milwaukee. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Nashville Predators. They play their homes games at the UW–Milwaukee Panther ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

(AHL) while under contract to the

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (colloquially referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Predators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Divisio ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL). He previously played junior in the

Alberta Junior Hockey League The Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) is an Alberta-based Junior A ice hockey league that belongs to the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). It was formed as a five-team league in 1964. The 2023–24 season began with 16 teams, however 5 ...

(AJHL) with the

Spruce Grove Saints The Spruce Grove Saints are a Junior ice hockey team in the BCHL. They play in Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada, with home games at the Thompson Family Arena. The team was originally a member of the AJHL and joined the BCHL in 2024. History Prior t ...

and the

United States Hockey League The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the Midwestern United States and Great Plains, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. Th ...

(USHL) with the

Fargo Force The Fargo Force is a Junior ice hockey#Tier I, Tier I junior ice hockey team in the Western Conference of the United States Hockey League (USHL). The Force have won two league championships in 2017–18 USHL season, 2018 and 2023–24 USHL seas ...

, as well as NCAA collegiate hockey with the

UMass Minutemen The UMass Minutemen are the athletic teams that represent the University of Massachusetts Amherst; strictly speaking, the ''Minutemen'' nickname applies to men's teams and athletes only — women's teams and athletes are known as ...

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 The Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League (AMBHL) is the provincial Bantam AAA ice hockey league for Alberta, Canada. Established in 1990, the AMBHL operates under the jurisdiction of Hockey Alberta and Hockey Canada as an AAA-level minor ice hockey l ...

(AMBHL) and St. Albert Flyers of the Alberta Major Midget Hockey League (AMMHL). He then began in Junior A with the

of the

(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

of the

(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 The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

. Murray, posting a career 2.23 goals against average and .916 save percentage, helped the Minutemen to three consecutive

Hockey East The Hockey East Association, also known as Hockey East, is a college ice hockey conference which operates entirely in New England. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference. Hockey East came into existence in 1984 for ...

championships in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, and

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, with a

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

victory in

. 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 The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...

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 The Texas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Cedar Park, Texas. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League's (NHL) Dallas Stars. They play their homes games at the H-E-B Center. History In ...

of the

(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 The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. The Stars compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The Stars ...

of the

(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 Jakob Oettinger ( ; born December 18, 1998), nicknamed Otter or Phenomenotter, is an American professional ice hockey goaltender for the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for Boston University during his collegiate care ...

, with Murray serving as backup to

Scott Wedgewood Scott Wedgewood (born August 14, 1992) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender for the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL). Wedgewood was selected by the New Jersey Devils in the third round (84th overall) of the 2010 ...

. 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 The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (N ...

. 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 The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confer ...

. As a free agent following the 2023–24 season, Murray signed a one-year contract with the

on July 1, 2024. In his first season with the team's AHL affiliate

, 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,

two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless o ...

with the

worth $775,000. https://www.nhl.com/predators/news/predators-sign-matt-murray-to-two-year-two-way-contract-2025-09-04

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

International

Awards and honors

Notes

References

External links

* * WJAC statistics fro
Hockey Canada
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Matt 1998 births Living people Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Dallas Stars players Fargo Force players Ice hockey people from St. Albert, Alberta Isenberg School of Management alumni Milwaukee Admirals players NCAA men's ice hockey national champions Spruce Grove Saints players Texas Stars players UMass Minutemen ice hockey players Undrafted National Hockey League players University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni 21st-century Canadian sportsmen