Ryan Murray
Chance He Gets Traded: 65%
Ryan Murray was an important piece for the Devils this offseason. He was supposed to come in and help fix P.K. Subban after a tumultuous first year in New Jersey. The experiment never worked out, and Murray ended up being scratched for more than a week while the Devils took an extended look at Will Butcher. Now, Murray is back in the lineup and playing fine with Sami Vatanen (more on him in a second), but he’s still someone that other teams will covet.
Murray is going to cost next to nothing for another team to acquire. That will lead to more teams negotiating for his services. The Devils only spent a 5th-round pick to get him in the offseason. Now, teams can just extend that asset slightly, and the Devils would probably make the move. They still have Butcher in tow, so they have an easy replacement for Murray on the left side of the defense. Plus, Fitzgerald comes out looking like a winner since all he did was upgrade his draft asset in the end.
The issue here is twofold. One, a team needs to be willing to take a chance on Murray while paying his $4.6 million salary. Obviously, the Devils have already paid a chunk of the salary, and the Devils can retain half of what’s left, but there are salary cap issues on top of teams trying not to spend extra dollars while fans aren’t at full capacity.
The Devils could end up being stuck with him, but if they trade their other defensive assets, it’s not that big of a deal. Again, he only cost a 5th-round pick in the first place. Maybe the Devils could give him an extended role with Subban when Kulikov leaves. Murray seems to be having trouble adjusting to Lindy Ruff’s demand from defensemen, so he might of just needed a reduction in ice time to perform. Either way, it’s very likely another team wants to give the former second-overall pick a chance.