It already has had minor potholes in the free-agent market. Murray has been unable to secure a solid first- or second-line left wing--he wanted New Jersey's Steve Thomas, who signed with Toronto--or a physical, dependable defenseman, opting to pass on Murray Baron.
"I want to do better than what's available," Murray said, "and I'm leaving myself open to do better."
Friday, Murray made a move that could lead to securing that needed winger or defenseman when he traded defenseman Michal Sykora to Tampa Bay for goaltender Mark Fitzpatrick and a fourth-round draft pick in 1999.
Fitzpatrick, 9-31-3 last season with Florida and Tampa, had a 3.11 goals-against average but a stellar 2.36 mark the previous season with Florida. He joins Jeff Hackett and Chris Terreri in goal for the Hawks. One of the three may be used as trade bait, with No. 1 Hackett obviously drawing the most attention.
Edmonton is solid on defense but is left with Eric Fichaud in net after free agent Curtis Joseph fled for Toronto. The Oilers would likely be willing to part with high-priced defenseman Roman Hamrlik, 24, who will earn $2.8 million next season, or Boris Mironov if Hackett became available.
Tampa coach Jacques Demers called Fitzpatrick a character player who gave the Lightning everything he had, "but he wants to be a No. 1. He was excited to go to Chicago."