The Pittsburgh Penguins have activated goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury from injured reserve and returned rookie goaltender Matt Murray to the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins of the AHL, the team announced Saturday.
Murray has been very good for the Penguins in Fleury’s absence and has really made the case that Pittsburgh has their heir apparent developing in the AHL, but Fleury has had a solid run this season and remains the team’s starter.
Murray went 2-1-1 during the five games that Fleury missed, posting a .938 save percentage.
It make sense to keep getting Murray as many starts as possible in the AHL, while Fleury continues to take the majority of the workload, for what is likely to be a couple more seasons at least. And though Murray looks close to being NHL ready, he’s just 21 and this isn’t a bad thing.
In fact, he’ll get opportunities to play on bigger stages soon, having made a strong case the last two weeks for his inclusion on Team North America at the 2016 World Cup.