Marc-Andre Fleury
Penguins not rushing record-setting Murray into NHL
Marc-Andre Fleury

Penguins not rushing record-setting Murray into NHL

Published Jul. 27, 2015 1:18 p.m. ET

Matt Murray made quite the splash with a gaudy shutout streak en route to winning the American Hockey League Goaltender of the Year Award last season.

The impressive accomplishments notwithstanding, the Pittsburgh Penguins insisted that they are not planning to rush the 21-year-old in his development.

"He's not coming in here and beating out Marc-Andre Fleury and taking over this team," former assistant general manager Tom Fitzgerald told the team's website prior to accepting the same job with the New Jersey Devils. "We love what we have down the line here, and it is down the line. He just turned 21. He needs to play hockey games. You can't develop if he's sitting on the bench. That’s just a fact."

Fleury played in 64 games last season with Pittsburgh, recording a 34-20-9 mark with 10 shutouts and a 2.32 goals-against average. The franchise goaltender isn't expected to slow his workload any day soon, so management believes Murray's best way to improve is with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

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Murray didn't yield a goal for an entire month from Feb. 8 to March 8, extending his AHL-best streak to 304 minutes, 11 seconds. The Ontario native posted a 25-10-3 mark with a league-best 1.51 goals-against average and .941 save percentage with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last season.

Thomas Greiss played 20 games in 2014-15 for Pittsburgh, which is expected to have Jeff Zatkoff occupy the backup role this season.

(h/t Pittsburgh Penguins)

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