The Buffalo Sabres have officially named Tim Murray the sixth General Manager in franchise history.
Murray, 50 years old, had been an Assistant General Manager for the Ottawa Senators since July 5, 2007. Murray’s connection to the Senators is that his uncle, Bryan Murray, is currently the General Manager.
During his tenure in Ottawa, Murray was also the General Manager of the AHL’s Binghamton Senators. He built the team into a perennial Calder Cup contender, and was the architect of the 2011 Calder Cup championship team.
Murray’s career began in 1993-94, when he served as a Detroit Red Wings amateur scout. In 1994, Murray began working with the Florida Panthers in a scouting role. Over the years, Murray’s role increased to Director of Amateur Scouting with the Panthers, until his departure in 2002. Murray would next work with the Anaheim Ducks, where from 2002-2005, he oversaw the amateur draft and college free agents. During this time, Murray played a part in drafting Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. In 2005, Murray began to work with the New York Rangers as an Assistant Director of Player Personnel. In this role, Murray scouted the “amateur ranks” and evaluated potential free agents. During this time, Murray played a role in drafting Marc Staal. Following that stop, Murray would move to Ottawa, where he worked from 2007-2014, as previously mentioned.
Murray’s job in Buffalo will be a tough one, as he will be saddled with the responsibility of turning around a fledgling franchise that has made the playoffs twice in the past six seasons.
The first big job for Murray is to determine whether or not pending veteran free agents Matt Moulson, Ryan Miller and Steve Ott will remain with the franchise before the trade deadline passes.