The NHL put its 2019-20 season on pause March 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic but remains hopeful to award the Stanley Cup at some point. Although it's unclear if or when it could return, NBC Sports Chicago will recap the season of each Blackhawks player to date in our "season in review" series. Next up is Connor Murphy.
When the Blackhawks traded Niklas Hjalmarsson to the Arizona Coyotes for Connor Murphy, you knew it was going to take a while for the city of Chicago to warm up to Murphy. Hjalmarsson was such a beloved player in this town and Murphy had big shoes to fill.
But as the years have gone by, Murphy has proved to be a valuable piece of the Blackhawks' blue line.
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Since the start of the 2018-19 season, the Blackhawks are 13-21-7 when Murphy is out of the lineup and 54-43-13 when he's in. That's a significant contrast and it's because he does a lot of the dirty work.
No Blackhawk was on the ice this season for more defensive zone faceoffs at 5-on-5 than Murphy (317), who also ranks third on the team in ice time on the penalty kill (162:49). And yet, he still set a career high with 19 points in 58 games, surpassing his previous total of 17 during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons in Arizona when he appeared in 78 and 77 games, respectively.
Murphy isn't the flashiest player, but you know what you're going to get from him on a nightly basis and that dependability is important. The Blackhawks have shown more and more trust in Murphy, who's ice time average was 16:22 in Year 1, 19:29 in Year 2 and 21:15 in Year 3, which is a new career high average.
Murphy's biggest challenge in Chicago has been trying to stay healthy. He missed the first two months of last season because of a back injury and another 12 this season on two separate occasions due to a groin injury.
NHL
There's no doubting what a difference having Murphy in the lineup makes for the Blackhawks. And it's safe to stay the city of Chicago has officially embraced him as a player.
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