[Signing] Habs sign Douglas Murray (1yr, $1.5mil)

[sureLoss]

Canadiens Montréal ‏@CanadiensMTL 2m Canadiens have reached an agreement in principle with free agent defenceman Douglas Murray on a one-year contract (2013-14).

[Mango]

I thought he was headed to Vancouver? Guess not.

[sureLoss]

Chris Johnston ‏@reporterchris 2m Douglas Murray's one-year deal with the #habs is worth $1.5-million.

[Machiavelli]

Good deal, especially for a pretty soft team.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

I thought he was going to Vancouver as well. Not a huge fan of his lack of foot speed, but 1.5 is a pretty decent deal, especially for only 1 year. God deal for the Habs.

[Bill Bumface]

Good to see his contract finally reflects that he's actually not a very good hockey player.

[PlayfulGenius]

I think that's a good fit...and a good, cheap, short deal as well.

[kyuss275]

Anybody know what Murray made last year?

Nice cheap contract for Montreal and gets Murray some playing time. I wonder if we will start to see some of the leftover UFA's signing on the cheap just to get on a team before camp?

[Ped]

Originally Posted by kyuss275

Anybody know what Murray made last year?

Nice cheap contract for Montreal and gets Murray some playing time. I wonder if we will start to see some of the leftover UFA's signing on the cheap just to get on a team before camp?

He made $2.5 million for the past 4 seasons.

[GreenLantern]

Definitely a good value low risk contract for Montreal. Murray brings a lot of toughness to their back end and playing a depth role is perfect for him. This could be a good revival contract for Murray as well, limited situations will help hide his imperfections.

[Huntingwhale]

Im not very familiar with the Habs defence, but is he physically the biggest defender they've had since Hal Gil? Pretty amazing how the Habs went that long without finally signing a big body.

[Stay Golden]

Cement footed Douglas Murray but the Hab's do need someone that can clear the front of the net.
He will surely get burned wide a few times but it will be the physical play that Hab fans will appreciate.

[Coach]

Good signing. You know what you get with Murray and he does his job to a tee. Every good team needs at least one rock solid dman. If only Murray could skate he would be a damn fine player.

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

Im not very familiar with the Habs defence, but is he physically the biggest defender they've had since Hal Gil? Pretty amazing how the Habs went that long without finally signing a big body.

he is bigger but the smallest guys on the Habs D is basically the same size as Giordano who is the biggest guy on the Flames D until SOB showed up.


Emelin - 6-2 220, Subban 6-0 212, Georges 6-1 203, Markov 6-0 204,

They also picked up Drewski from the Kings 6-2 220.

Murray at 6-3 240 would be a monster on the Flames but on the Canadiens he won't stand out that much.

SOB at 6-3 230 will stick out as being a lot bigger on the Flames than Murray does on the Canadiens.

[The Swedish Flame]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Good signing. You know what you get with Murray and he does his job to a tee. Every good team needs at least one rock solid dman. If only Murray could skate he would be a damn fine player.

Agreed. You know what you get and it certainly isn't flair. It's a good thing for him that the ice is smaller in NA.

[Meers]

Slow-footed. Terrible possession numbers. He's just not a good hockey player any more.

The Canucks made the right call signing Tanev to $1.5 million instead of Murray.

[GettinIggyWithIt]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

he is bigger but the smallest guys on the Habs D is basically the same size as Giordano who is the biggest guy on the Flames D until SOB showed up.


Emelin - 6-2 220, Subban 6-0 212, Georges 6-1 203, Markov 6-0 204,

They also picked up Drewski from the Kings 6-2 220.

Murray at 6-3 240 would be a monster on the Flames but on the Canadiens he won't stand out that much.

SOB at 6-3 230 will stick out as being a lot bigger on the Flames than Murray does on the Canadiens.

The Flames D is pretty small as it stands now but Murray is still quite a bit bigger than the rest of the Montreal D. Montreal's lack of team toughness/size showed when they got owned by the Sens physically. Subban is closer to 5'11 - he is just listed at 6 feet. Remember, this is the same team that has Prust listed at 6'2. Gorges is pretty lanky and doesn't stand out physically on the ice. I don't know much about Drewski but he is their 7th d-man from what I've seen. I think Bouillion and Diaz would slot in ahead of him. Both are on the smaller side.

Aside from Emelin, that defense really didn't have much size or a physical presence. With the addition of Murray and if Tinordi makes the jump, that defense will be much bigger this year.