Why Blackhawks got what they did for Murphy

The Chicago Blackhawks sent impending UFA defenseman Connor Murphy to the Edmonton Oilers on Monday. The move is savvy, with the Blackhawks landing a second-round pick in the process. 

The second-rounder is a great return for a player with some control over his destination. Murphy has a 10-team no-trade list attached to his expiring contract.

While the no-trade list wasn’t exactly shackling for the Blackhawks, it did limit what they could do to a certain extent.

That said, Murphy likely gave his blessing for Monday’s deal, clearing the way for the Blackhawks to land another useful draft pick.

But that’s not the main reason why the Blackhawks got the return they did for Murphy. Part of the deal was a 50% retention on Murphy’s $4.4 million cap hit. Had the Oilers swung the deal without retention, the final price could have been much lower. Instead, the price tag went up just a tad more given the retention.

Without retention, the Oilers would have had to clear more space to land Murphy under their cap structure.

At the moment, the Oilers have just $200K in cap space. That’s after waiving Andrew Mangiapane and Alex Regula on Monday. While the Oilers didn’t rid themselves of Mangiapane’s full $3.6 million cap hit, they got about $1.2 million. That’s not nothing in deals such as this one. But it’s safe to say that the Oilers pushed for the retention in order to give them at least some buffer with the cap ceiling.

Could Blackhawks have gotten more for Murphy?

It’s worth pondering if the Blackhawks could have gotten more for Murphy. By getting “more,” we’re talking about a first-round pick or a prospect attached to the deal.

That’s a fair question. The Blackhawks could have pushed the Oilers to add something else. Perhaps a mid-tier prospect could have been something Chicago might have asked for.

But then again, there’s a chance that pushing for more might have delayed the deal. The Blackhawks most likely would have just wanted to get a deal done to allow Murphy to go to a contender. The chatter surrounding the Blackhawks has made it known that the club wanted to do right by Murphy. The veteran defender had never really gotten a taste of the playoffs. Plus, GM Kyle Davidson wanted to put Murphy in a position where he could win a Stanley Cup.

That’s why the deal with the Edmonton Oilers makes sense. Murphy will have a chance to contend for a Stanley Cup, provided the Oilers make the playoffs and go on a third-straight Cup run.