BUFFALO – Winger Brett Murray’s prospect status expired a year or two ago. At 26, six seasons into his pro career, he has established himself as one of the Rochester Americans’ top scorers and a respected young veteran.
Recalls to the NHL, however, have been infrequent. He played two games last season. Zero in 2022-23.
Monday’s 3-2 overtime win against the Boston Bruins marked his first appearance with the Sabres in 15 months and just the 24th of his career.
Murray, having developed into a high-end AHL forward, could’ve pursued a fresh start last summer as a free agent. Instead, he quickly re-signed with the Sabres, inking a two-way contract that pays him $350,000 in the minors.
Why keep coming back?
“I love the organization,” Murray said following Sunday’s practice in KeyBank Center. “… The people here treat you unbelievable. It wasn’t much of a question. … When they said they wanted me back, I was happy with that.”
Sometimes the grass isn’t greener in another organization.
The Sabres drafted Murray in the fourth round in 2016 – he’s the last player in the organization selected by former general manager Tim Murray (no relation) – but needed to be convinced he deserved an NHL deal.
So he began his career in 2019-20 playing on an AHL contract before earning a two-way deal following his rookie campaign.
In the AHL, players rarely stick around for more than a few seasons. They move up, down and eventually elsewhere. Many pursue new adventures or bigger paydays overseas.
But Murray, who could be scratched for tonight’s road game against Utah Hockey Club, said Rochester feels like a second home.
If he’s not in the NHL, playing in the Flower City is the next best option.
“I love Rochester as a city,” said Murray, who has played 314 games for the Amerks. “If I were to go down like I did at the start of the season, I wasn’t too upset about it. As a career, you always want to be in the NHL, but I love Rochester.”
Coach Mike Leone said Murray, the Amerks’ longest-tenured player, feels “a lot of loyalty” toward the Sabres.
“Buffalo drafted him, signed him out of junior hockey,” he said. “So I think there is a component to that to speak of the character of the player to stick it out with this organization.”
So what helped Murray, who recently represented the Amerks in the AHL All-Star Classic, reach the NHL again?
Well, he has scored 23 goals in just 55 games this season, tying his career high he set two seasons ago. His goal total and 40 points both rank second on the Amerks behind linemate Isak Rosen.
Murray has morphed into a stud on the power play, utilizing his 6-foot-5, 228-pound frame around the net to score 12 goals, the AHL’s second-highest total.
He has also shown a willingness to stick up for his teammates and fight.
“He’s just an all-around really effective player,” Leone said.
Still, Amerks assistant coach Vinny Prospal wants Murray to develop more consistency.
“I look at him as a player, I see the tools,” he said. “I see the body, decent skating ability, a really good stick around the net, good along the wall, guy that when he wants to (can) step in and finish the check and fight. But I don’t see it there all the time, and I wish I would see it there all the time.”
Prospal said he had a discussion last season with Murray “about being a little bit meaner on the ice.”
“He’s a really nice kid, a big kid that has a lot of attributes that can make him a really good hockey player, or at least a hockey player that is knocking on the NHL door,” he said. “But I wish he’d be more consistent and bring a little bit more of that meanness, because when some of his teammates get punished, he steps right in and starts fighting.”
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Sabres coach Lindy Ruff told reporters following Wednesday’s practice in Salt Lake City that winger JJ Peterka, who has missed the last three games with a lower-body injury, appears ready to play.
That could make Murray the odd man out.