Talks ‘intensifying’ as Oilers nearing acquisition of Blackhawks defenceman Connor Murphy

Murphy, 32, has appeared in 60 games this year for the Blackhawks, scoring four goals and 13 points, having spent each of the last nine seasons in the Windy City. He’s a player that Oilers general manager Stan Bowman would know well, as he was the one who brought Murphy to Chicago in a June 2017 deal with the Arizona Coyotes, sending back Niklas Hjalmarsson.

The 6-foot-4, 212-pound right-shot defenceman is known for his defensive prowess as a tough-to-play-against player without much offensive upside. His impacts in Chicago this season highlight that, driving offence at a seven percent rate below league average, but providing defensive value at a seven percent rate above league average, according to HockeyViz, which pegs his overall contributions as that of a low-end second-pair defenceman.

Murphy is in the final year of a four-year, $4.4-million AAV deal and carries a 10-team no-trade list.

While he’s been somewhat buried on the depth chart, averaging the fewest five-on-five minutes per game among Blackhawks defenceman, he leads the team in penalty kill minutes. Heading into Tuesday’s games, Chicago’s penalty kill ranks first in the league at 85.7 percent. Murphy impacts there are at a league average rate, according to HockeyViz.

For a deal to be made, there will have to be significant salary-cap gymnastics to make the money work. The Oilers, according to Puckpedia, have just under $11,000 in salary cap space Monday, after assigning Andrew Mangiapane and Alec Regula to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors, recalling Josh Samanski and Isaac Howard, and placing Mattias Janmark on the long-term injured reserve.

The Blackhawks, meanwhile, have a staggering $53 million in cap space, so either retaining salary on Murphy or taking back Mangiapane in a deal, is something the team could theoretically do.