Connor Murphy is a former 2011 1st round draft pick (20th overall) of the Phoenix Coyotes. After four seasons with the ‘Yotes, he was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks for standout defenseman, Niklas Hjalmarsson. ‘Hawks general manager, Stan Bowman, assumed he wouldn’t be able to re-sign Hjalmarsson when his contract expired in 2019. This assumption led to Bowman trading away the team’s best defensive defenseman for a younger, cheaper defenseman who was signed through 2022.
One of These Things Is Not Like the Other
It is unfair to Connor Murphy to compare him to the stalwart defenseman he was traded for, so let’s take a look at his 2018-19 season on its own merit.