NEWSLETTER
Here’s a sight for sore eyes, even if I wasn’t there to see it in person:
A real live press scrum! pic.twitter.com/UvRBIuwgNf
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) September 1, 2021
Yes, a real press scrum for the Blackhawks and Chicago media, in person. Obviously distanced and masked and I’d venture a guess that most, if not all involved, are vaccinated against COVID-19. But it’s great to see this become more of a reality after having so many months of Zoom press conferences. Hopefully if things can go in the right direction regarding COVID cases, this will become the norm again and not an exception.
But the reason there was a media availability today for the Blackhawks was to talk with newly extended defenseman Connor Murphy as he and a few others got some on-ice work done at the Fifth Third Ice Arena in Chicago. Murphy touched on a number of topics from this summer, including his newly signed four-year contract extension with the club…
On the 4-year term: "That was right around the number that came up. As a player, you do always want longevity as long as you can… This is a good number to have five years to put me at 34 when the deal is up and to be able to have my prime years here."
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) September 1, 2021
Murphy’s current deal with the Blackhawks, at a $3.85M cap hit, expires at the end of this season and then his new deal, which comes with a $4.4M AAV cap hit, takes effect. Since coming to the Blackhawks in an unpopular trade (at the time) that sent Niklas Hjalmarsson to the Arizona Coyotes, Murphy has filled the role that Hjalmarsson played while in Chicago admirably. He’s been second on the team in ice-time per game among defensemen for the last two seasons and has regularly been used, successfully, in a shutdown role.
With his new deal, Murphy is going to be a fixture with the Blackhawks’ defensive core for a number of years to come. He is one of the longest tenured defensemen with the club now, having played 236 NHL games with Chicago, and behind Seth Jones, has the second-most years remaining under contract with the Blackhawks out of all players.
Speaking of Jones, Murphy touched on the newest acquisitions by the Blackhawks this offseason, including the man he will be playing in front of the most, Marc-André Fleury…
Murphy wasn't sure whether or not to believe the Marc-Andre Fleury acquisition.
"Any time you hear something or read a random tweet, you just don't believe it for some reason. Because everyone wants to have a headline, but then we realized it was true & it was really exciting"
— Joe Brand (@Joe_Brand1) September 1, 2021
Since they both play on the right side of the defense, it’s unlikely we’ll see Murphy paired with Seth Jones this season, but having him in the defensive core, along with Jake McCabe and Calvin de Haan, should help elevate the level of play in the top-four of Chicago’s blue-line and beyond down the depth chart…
Connor Murphy on Seth Jones and the other additions: "Seth, the guy is just a workhorse and a stud. What’s exciting about those guys is that they’re going to drive up the level of play of everyone else around."
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) September 1, 2021
Also hoping to help elevate the players around him this season is the expected return of Blackhawk Captain Jonathan Toews. We’ve been given a variety of expectations for the 33-year-old Toews, everything from he’ll be good to go on night one to he’s still a wait and see case, but Murphy is encouraged by what he has seen of Toews back on the ice…
Connor Murphy on Jonathan Toews:
"He looks great. It's cool to see. Right when he came in, he had the same drive and excitement he's always had to train hard and work on his game… It's nice to see him finally get rewarded to be healthy, back on the ice and ready to go."
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) September 1, 2021
With more responsibility handed to Murphy this season, the multiple offseason additions made by the Blackhawks and the return of a healthy Toews, the expectations for Murphy and the club have increased from the end of last season to the beginning of training camp later this month. After falling short of the postseason in the last four years (the bubble postseason shouldn’t really count), and having not won a Stanley Cup Playoff series since the 2015 Cup Final, the Blackhawks are currently positioned the best they probably have been since Murphy’s arrival with the team.
In his NHL career, which spans nearly 500 regular season games with the Coyotes and Blackhawks, Murphy has yet to be on a true Stanley Cup Playoff contending team, again outside of the 2020 bubble postseason. The hope is that this 2021-22 Blackhawks club can finally end that streak for the 28-year-old defenseman…
Connor Murphy: "Haven't been happy with not being in the (Stanley Cup) Playoffs. That'll be our No. 1 goal and a lot of guys will be hungry to put that work in together really quickly in order to get that goal accomplished." #Blackhawks
— Brandon Cain (@brandonmcain) September 1, 2021
We shall see how that plays out. For the time being, Murphy being locked-in for the next few years is only a good thing for the Blackhawks and for the Chicago community.
