'The other' Matt Murray headlines Penguins development camp roster
The Pittsburgh Penguins announced their 41-man roster for development camp on Monday and in a surprise development, goaltender Matt Murray’s name was on it.
Not that Matt Murray. The other Matt Murray.
This Murray is a 21-year-old goalie who just finished up a solid sophomore season at UMass, going 20-5-0 with a .919 save percentage. He’s one of 18 undrafted free agents the Penguins invited to camp for a look.
Also included on the roster were all five picks the Penguins made at last weekend’s NHL draft in Vancouver, led by first-rounder Samuel Poulin and third-rounder Nathan Legare.
The camp will be a rare North American appearance for European draft picks such as Valtteri Puustinen and Santeri Airola from this year’s draft and Filip Hallander from last year’s class.
Goalie Emil Larmi, who signed with the Penguins last month and could be the No. 3 on the organizational depth chart depending on what happens with Tristan Jarry, will be in attendance as well.
Austin Lemieux, who had 13 points in 30 games as a freshman at Arizona State last season, is on the roster.
Top prospects Kasper Bjorkqvist, Nikita Pavlychev and Justin Almeida will not participate due to injury. Bjorkqvist is a physical winger turning pro after three strong seasons at Providence, Pavlychev is a massive 6-foot-7 center from Penn State, and Almeida is a high-scoring, undersized forward from the Western Hockey League.
Practices will be held Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning, with camp culminating in a three-on-three tournament Friday night. Admission for all sessions at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex is free and open to the public.
Here’s the roster:
FORWARDS: Roman Ahcan, Jordy Bellerive, Chase Berger, Brandon Biro, Matthew Boucher, Judd Caulfield, Jan Drozg, Liam Gorman, Filip Hallander, Brandon Hawkins, Renars Krastenbergs, Nathan Legare, Austin Lemieux, Jake Lucchini, Billy Moskal, Samuel Poulin, Quinn Preston, Valtteri Puustinen, Jared Spooner, Eduards Tralmaks, Bobby Trivigno, Josh Williams
DEFENSEMEN: Calen Addison, Santeri Airola, Roni Allen, Niclas Almari, Ryan Jones, Michael Kim, Zachary Lauzon, Cam Lee, Jon Lizotte, Antti Palojarvi, Clayton Phillips, Will Reilly, Liam Ross, Tyler Spott
GOALIES: Alex D’Orio, Matt Jurusik, Emil Larmi, Matt Murray, Tommy Nappier
Jonathan Bombulie is the TribLive assistant sports editor. A Greensburg native, he was a hockey reporter for two decades, covering the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for 17 seasons before joining the Trib in 2015 and covering the Penguins for four seasons, including Stanley Cup championships in 2016-17. He can be reached at jbombulie@triblive.com.
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