Many Pittsburgh Penguins fans believe that their favourite team has too much of a good thing: Reliable goaltending.
That's not actually what they're arguing about, but they do want the Penguins to choose between Fleury and Murray. Of course, this all started last season when Matt Murray emerged as an above average goaltender in Pittsburgh’s run to the Stanley Cup. Still, Marc-Andre Fleury has led the Penguins to a cup in the past as well and still has three years at $5.75 million AAV on his contract.
Murray has clearly been the superior goaltender this season, with a .923 Sv% (11th), whereas Fleury has only managed a .909 Sv% (35th). With that said, injuries can happen and it’s reasonable to believe that having Fleury share the load has made Murray’s transition to the NHL a much smoother one. Murray has still taken a larger share of the starts with 40 to Fleury's 30. It's been a pretty perfect situation so far, which is why the Penguins sent out the following tweet in response to all the arguing.
Still, Murray’s stellar season might have some Pens fans worrying. After all, the Vegas expansion draft will happen this offseason, and unless there is some behind-the-scenes agreements that have been made, the Penguins may be forced to protect Fleury and leave Murray exposed because of Fleury's modified NMC.
With that said, there’s nothing left to argue about. The Penguins are cruising to the playoffs, so it’s best to share the load anyways.
Until then, Pens fans should worry about making their case for Murray to win the Calder (Stats reflective of numbers on March 15).
