Connor Murphy is wanted back by the Edmonton Oilers. The team wants to keep the seasoned defenseman, but it has a cap issue to resolve and a coaching situation that hasn’t been settled yet hanging over the entire offseason, according to Elliotte Friedman on the FAN Hockey Show on Wednesday.
One player has two difficulties. That’s not a fair bargain.
Elliotte Friedman: Regarding Connor Murphy and the Oilers, I believe they want him back. However, they probably need to free up money, and there’s the entire coaching situation.
Murphy, who is 33 years old, just completed his first year with Edmonton after signing with the organization. He played in 80 regular-season games, accumulated 17 points, had a minus-2 rating over the blue line, and had a $4.4 million cap hit.
He is not a top-pairing regular. However, he was something that Edmonton’s backend actually required: a consistent, physical presence who logged minutes without incident and kept things uncomplicated alongside more well-known names.
Six games were played during the playoffs. Anaheim knocked the Oilers out in the first round, and Murphy added 3 points in those 6 appearances, going plus-3 in that stretch.
Now the question is whether GM Stan Bowman can find enough room to make it work.
Oilers coaching vacancy adds pressure to every contract decision this summer
The coaching situation Friedman referenced is real. The entraineur file for Edmonton lists no head coach, only Bowman as general manager. That matters for Murphy specifically because the next coach sets defensive deployment, and a new voice behind the bench might have a different read on what this backend needs.
Think of it like a restaurant changing head chefs mid-season. You can keep the same ingredients in the fridge, but you have no idea what menu they plan to cook.
Edmonton’s defense core is already expensive. Evan Bouchard sits at $10.5 million, Darnell Nurse at $9.25 million, Mattias Ekholm at $6.25 million. Add Murphy at $4.4M and that is four defensemen accounting for heavy cap real estate before you even fill the rest of the roster.
Bowman has decisions everywhere this summer, not just on the blue line.
What Friedman described is essentially a team that wants to do something but cannot commit to it yet. Murphy fits. The money is tight. And whoever coaches this team next gets a vote, too.
Whether all three problems get solved before Murphy signs somewhere else is the actual story here.
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