The Edmonton Oilers want Connor Murphy back. According to Elliotte Friedman on the FAN Hockey Show Wednesday, the team would like to retain the veteran defenseman but has a cap problem to solve and an unresolved coaching situation hanging over the entire offseason.
Two complications on one player. That is not a clean negotiation.
Elliotte Friedman: Re Oilers/Connor Murphy: I think they would like to bring him back; they probably have to clear up money; there's the whole coaching thing.
Murphy, 33, just finished his first season in Edmonton after signing with the club. He appeared in 80 regular-season games and finished with 17 points, going minus-2 across the blue line while carrying a $4.4 million cap hit.
He is not a top-pairing fixture. But he is something Edmonton's backend actually needed - a steady, physical presence who logs minutes without drama and keeps things simple next to bigger names.
The playoff run lasted six games. 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.
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Whether all three problems get solved before Murphy signs somewhere else is the actual story here.
Should the Oilers bring Connor Murphy back even if it means cutting a forward to make cap room?
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