Sabres sign Brett Muray to ELC

[LGR4GM]

 

[dudacek]

And after weeks of silent contemplation in the shadows, slowly weaving his web and setting the pieces in place on his board, Kevyn Adams finally pounces.

The dominoes begin to fall.

[LGR4GM]

Murray had 21 points in 55 games as a 21yr old for the Amerks last year. That tracks well for a guy projected to be a bottom 6 forward with some size. Let's see what he does when the AHL finally resumes. 

[inkman]

Kid could be a bottom 6 NHLer.  I just wish he would play a little more angry.  Pretty passive for a guy with his size.  

[shrader]

It's good to see that he's turned things around since his start at Penn State.  It's a nice reminder that we tend to judge a lot of the prospects way too quickly.  Even if he never goes anywhere from here, his status has improved dramatically over the last two years.

[Thorner]

3 hours ago, dudacek said:

And after weeks of silent contemplation in the shadows, slowly weaving his web and setting the pieces in place on his board, Kevyn Adams finally pounces.

The dominoes begin to fall.

Haha.

Jokes aside, Botterill never makes this signing, and I actually like Murray for some reason. 

Should be good in the AHL, outside shot at a grinder role for Buffalo down the line. Can someone refresh me in why it’s a 2 year ELC instead of a 3?

Edit: Ah, because he’s 22. 

Edited July 31, 2020 by Thorny

[hsif]

2 hours ago, inkman said:

I just wish he would play a little more angry.  Pretty passive for a guy with his size.  

Damn .....…. I was hoping he'd bring that aspect. I want to see some grit...….

[msw2112]

4 hours ago, Thorny said:

Haha.

Jokes aside, Botterill never makes this signing, and I actually like Murray for some reason. 

Should be good in the AHL, outside shot at a grinder role for Buffalo down the line. Can someone refresh me in why it’s a 2 year ELC instead of a 3?

Edit: Ah, because he’s 22. 

Why don't you think Botterill would make this signing?  I'm guessing, but perhaps it's because he's taller than 6 feet and weighs more than 200 lbs - not the small, speedy type of player that Jason favored?

[Thorner]

5 minutes ago, msw2112 said:

Why don't you think Botterill would make this signing?  I'm guessing, but perhaps it's because he's taller than 6 feet and weighs more than 200 lbs - not the small, speedy type of player that Jason favored?

Also just the fact that, this past June, when his rights were expiring, he didn’t sign him. Technically he wasn’t Sabres property again until today.

Edited July 31, 2020 by Thorny

[Andrew Amerk]

7 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Murray had 21 points in 55 games as a 21yr old for the Amerks last year. That tracks well for a guy projected to be a bottom 6 forward with some size. Let's see what he does when the AHL finally resumes. 

He had something like 14 points in his first 15 games, then seemed to tail off points-wise as he focused on other aspects of his game. 

[msw2112]

3 hours ago, Thorny said:

 

4 hours ago, msw2112 said:

Why don't you think Botterill would make this signing?  I'm guessing, but perhaps it's because he's taller than 6 feet and weighs more than 200 lbs - not the small, speedy type of player that Jason favored?

 

Also just the fact that, this past June, when his rights were expiring, he didn’t sign him. Technically he wasn’t Sabres property again until today.

Thanks - I wasn't aware of that - and it makes sense.

 

Edited August 1, 2020 by msw2112

[Ogre]

Big. Old. Brett. Murray!

I’ve been watching this guy. He was criticized for his skating but he looked pretty smooth at the BCA. 

I’d like to see how he responds to the big club. I’ve seen him use his size to get position, not dominantly, but he knows he’s a big dude. I’m willing to bet that some bigger money in a bigger league would alter his play style. 
 

[gilbert11]

19 hours ago, Ogre said:

Big. Old. Brett. Murray!

I’ve been watching this guy. He was criticized for his skating but he looked pretty smooth at the BCA. 

I’d like to see how he responds to the big club. I’ve seen him use his size to get position, not dominantly, but he knows he’s a big dude. I’m willing to bet that some bigger money in a bigger league would alter his play style. 
 

You’d think he’d do everything he could to impress the Sabres to get promoted.  If he hasn’t been a physical player, would he really add that after getting a shot?

[Ogre]

3 hours ago, gilbert11 said:

 If he hasn’t been a physical player

Who is saying this? I said he does use his size to gain the advantage. @inkman was saying he wished he’d play a little more angry. 
How do we get to him not being physical? 
 

So if your boss offered you a $600G raise to get rowdy and rough up someone up in the hallway, not hurt them, just get in their grill and make them really uncomfortable, would you do it?

AND, his grit grew in that first pro season, which he was late to join. 
 

What’s your evaluation from having had watched him play?

[Andrew Amerk]

From what I saw this season, Murray WAS using his size. Maybe he wasn’t blasting everyone in the corners, or being imposing, but he was leveraging his size in play. 
 

I thought he was very serviceable in his roles, and there’s potential there that in a year or two hes similarly serviceable in the NHL. 

[Huckleberry]

On 7/31/2020 at 11:47 PM, Thorny said:

Also just the fact that, this past June, when his rights were expiring, he didn’t sign him. Technically he wasn’t Sabres property again until today.

So he could have gone anywhere and still signed with us, good to know he wants to be a Buffalo sabres player.  :)

[PerreaultForever]

17 hours ago, Huckleberry said:

So he could have gone anywhere and still signed with us, good to know he wants to be a Buffalo sabres player.  :)

Probably figures his odds of making the NHL instead of the AHL are better here.