Bryan Murray Likely To Step Down, Hall Of Fame Deserving

A second report came from the Ottawa Citizen this week. Earlier, the Citizen told us that Chris Neil and Chris Phillips could be made available. The trade news was interesting to read as we wouldn’t expect Ottawa to trade their 2 long-time players and assistant captains.

Yesterday, we heard about GM Bryan Murray’s plans for the future. As you know, Murray was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer with a terminal diagnosis. Murray continues to work as Ottawa’s full-time GM, but according to a recent interview, he’s ready to move on.

The citizen’s piece is very thoughtful as reading it portrays Murray at his best. A quote from Wayne Scanlan’s piece specifically stood out to me when thinking about Mr. Murray’s situation.

"Of all the weapons against the ravages of cancer, humour may be the most underrated"

And perhaps that’s how Bryan Murray handles his situation, through humour. His story from Michael Farber aired earlier in the year which touched on a personal side of Murray’s life as an NHL executive and through his battle with cancer.

Hockey Hall Of Fame

It’s an idea that was brought up a while ago, and it needs to happen.  Pat Burns didn’t get to see his induction into the hall of fame, and Bryan Murray should. Murray has put up a career in hockey that includes a Jack Adams award, Hockey Exec. of the year honours, and over 600 wins as an NHL head coach.

The accomplishments there are enough to get murray into the hall, but as (@notMStone) puts it on Twitter, “the amount respect he has earned is going to help get him in.” And I can’t agree more.

More from SenShot

• Crunch. Crush. Grind. Mash. The Tyler Kleven Story
• Belleville Senators: What To Expect In 2023-24
• Daniel Alfredsson and Marian Hossa Hit The Ice One Final Time
• Ottawa Senators: Something’s Got to Give
• Hot Pierre Summer 2.0? Let’s Talk About The Ottawa Senators Offseason So Far!

The only thing missing? A Stanley Cup. Despite being involved in two teams that won cups a few seasons after Murray left, Bryan has never found his name engraved on Lord Stanley.

Murray can certainly be attributed to Anaheim’s 2007 cup campaign as he is responsible for drafting Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf in the same 2003 draft class as GM. Getzlaf and Perry have been the league’s best duo for quite some time, and to think these two were picked at 19 and 28 is insane. Kudos to Murray on that one.

Murray’s tenure in Ottawa began as head coach, and he has served at GM since 2007. Murray saw a trip to the cup final with Ottawa in 2007, yet the team hasn’t seen much success since then.

After signing a contract extension in 2014, Senators Owner, Eugene Melnyk mentioned that the stanley cup was the ultimate goal in Ottawa. Although a cup in Ottawa is still further down the road, Murray has essentially built this team from scratch, including a core of guys like Erik Karlsson, Mika Zibanejad, Craig Anderson and others through the draft and trade.