The Chicago Blackhawks are making the new defensive core group of the future known with their latest roster move on Tuesday. With one year remaining on his current deal with Chicago, the Blackhawks signed defenseman Connor Murphy to a four-year extension through the 2025-26 season.
MORE‼️ MURPH‼️
Connor Murphy inked an extension and is staying put in Chicago. #Blackhawks https://t.co/0LtqLBfqI1
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) August 31, 2021
The deal comes with a $4.4M AAV cap hit, up from his current $3.85M cap hit that he will hold for the final year of his current deal that expires this season.
Connor Murphy, signed to a 4x$4.4M extension by CHI, is a top-pairing defensive defenceman. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/za8utxLUtY
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) August 31, 2021
Murphy has been with the Blackhawks since the 2017-18 season and has been one of the most consistent defensemen on the team in that time. His new deal is very team-friendly, both in price and in term, as he will be 32-years-old when the extension ends.
Stan Bowman on signing Connor Murphy's extension #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/lhdSAd80Oj
— Mario Tirabassi (@Mario_Tirabassi) August 31, 2021
Murphy, along with Seth Jones and Jake McCabe, are the defensemen with the longest terms on the Chicago roster now and are, without question, the new blue-line core for the Blackhawks. He’s been a pseudo-No.1 defenseman at times over the past three years and is a player that will certainly help not only solidify the back-end for the Blackhawks, but also help facilitate the development of young players coming into the defensive rotation as well.