Matt Murray is leading this season’s rookie goalie class - of course

It’s easy to forget Matt Murray is technically a rookie.

But he only played 13 games in the regular season in 2015-16. The 21 playoff games - seriously, he won more playoff games than he played regular season games - don’t count towards rookie status. And so: Murray, Stanley Cup Champion, is a rookie this season.

It goes without saying that he’s the best rookie goalie this season, too. Juuse Saros and Jared Coreau are the only other rookie goalies who have played more than 10 games this season; Coreau is older than Murray by three years. Saros’ .933 save percentage beats Murray’s .926, but Murray has also played an additional 19 games and has seen over 500 more shots, so it’s not really all that comparable.

Oh: and Murray has three shutouts on the season now, too. Via the Elias Sports Bureau:

Pittsburgh’s Matt Murray posted his third shutout of the season, the most by any NHL rookie, with a 4–0 win versus the Canucks. Les Binkley set the Penguins record for shutouts by a rookie goaltender with six in 1967–68, the team’s inaugural season. Murray is only the third rookie netminder since then to register as many three shutouts in one season for the Penguins. The others were Patrick Lalime in 1996–97 and Peter Skudra in 1998–99.

And this really is only just the beginning. Murray made his NHL debut on Dec. 19, 2015 - only about 14 months ago.

Time flies when you’re experiencing that much success.