Patrick Williamstheahl.com writer
Milwaukee Admirals have the opportunity to further strengthen their holdings in the central department this weekend and have the opportunity to sign a contract with their goalkeeper duo.
Two potential Calder Cup playoff opponents visited Milwaukee on Saturday from the Chicago Wolves. Rockford Icehogs are still trying to secure a playoff spot and are following on Sunday. Milwaukee scored two points leads with a Texas star, winning three games (one in Texas’s hands).
Ranked fourth and fourth in every game, and a large part of the success can be attributed to firm work Matt Murray and Magnus Chrona Offered in the club's first season. The pair recently signed a new contract extension with their parents Nashville Predators Juuse Saros Next season.
Murray scored an AHL lead (.932) in win (26), while his goal averaged 4th at 2.10. His 2,457 minutes played second in the league. Chrona has 11-11-5 with a savings of 2.87 GAA and 0.901.
Murray, who represented Milwaukee in February for the AHL All-Star Classic, has a new two-year contract that will take effect next season. The two-way extension for the year in Chrona will also begin next fall.
Murray and Chrona arrived in Milwaukee last fall Yaroslav Askarov and Troy Grosenick. Askarov brought Chrona to Nashville in a multiplayer deal as Saros firmly sank into the Predators network.
Milwaukee has spent his first two professional seasons with the Texas star. He faced the Admiral in the 2023 Calder Cup playoffs, making his appearance in five games, and the Admiral eventually pulled out. After a one-year deal with the Dallas Stars, Murray jumped to the other end of the organization's competition and signed a one-year contract with Nashville on the first day of the free agent last July.
This move has been paid for all parties. In addition to maintaining a strong goalkeeper tradition in Milwaukee, Murray recalled the NHL time with Nashville. His job as an Admiral is particularly needed given Nashville's long list of talents brought from Milwaukee after his early struggles. As the organization works to meet its NHL staff needs, it has also taken several moves to patch the Milwaukee roster. The team earned points with an 8-1-0-0 start, and he managed to avoid any extended mid-term recession and be ready to enter the stretch and positioned as a champion in the central division.
The tandem accounts for all the contents of all goalkeepers this season. Murray has been crying lately, winning his last six games while allowing 194 (1.00, .969) goals and 6 goals. Chrona has a chance to compete for the championship after a tough rookie professional season in San Jose and play at the last club with AHL Barracuda and NHL Sharks. They also have extensive game experience in the form of a national college championship – Murray went with UMass-Amherst in 2021 and Chrona at the University of Denver in 2022.
Early in the Calder Cup playoffs, the upcoming things for the Admiral still had to be resolved. But maybe the third consecutive playoffs with Texas may be played. If so, Murray gave his former team something to consider last weekend: Starting two games of two visits to Cedar Park, Murray allowed only one goal in each appearance as the Admiral swept the host star.
The goalkeeper has played a major role in bringing the Admiral to the Western Conference Finals over the past two seasons. If they were to go so far again, maybe beyond that – they will rely on Murray and Crona this spring.
During the fifty years in the American Hockey League, Theahl.com writer Patrick Williams currently covers NHL.com and Flosports leagues and is a regular contributor to Siriusxm NHL New Network Radio. He won the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding league coverage in 2016.
