![\"Blackhawks](\"https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/3e84999\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/3934x2623+0+0\/resize\/840x560!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F2d%2Ff1%2F19785e254b2881367bfa1336f073%2Fblackhawks-kraken-hockey.jpg\")
<\/p>\nVANCOUVER, British Columbia \u2014 When the Blackhawks made their first-ever trip to Seattle in November 2021, veteran defenseman Connor Murphy logged a hefty 22:30 of ice time. That was one of 33 games during the 2021-22 season in which Murphy, who had just signed a four-year extension the previous summer, exceeded the 22-minute mark.<\/p>\n
Fast-forward four years, however, and Murphy now finds himself in a very different position within the Hawks\u2019 depth chart \u2014 even as the team\u2019s longest-tenured player. The 32-year-old defenseman played only 8:30 in the Hawks\u2019 loss in Seattle on Monday, the lowest ice time of his career in any game in which he didn\u2019t get injured. He received only three shifts in the third period. Over the Hawks\u2019 last five games, he has averaged barely 12 minutes \u2014 a dramatic decrease in workload since last season, when he averaged more than 20 minutes when healthy.<\/p>\n
As an alternate captain and generally selfless guy, Murphy struck an amicable tone when asked about the subject Sunday, but it\u2019s clear he\u2019s not thrilled. \u201cEvery player wants to play more, obviously, so I don\u2019t think anyone would be happy with having less minutes,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cBut I understand there are decisions. Part of it is I think all of our \u2018D\u2019 are playing really well, so it\u2019s not something that I can argue against in any way. When you\u2019re given your opportunities and shifts, [I\u2019m] trying to make the most of them and still have an effect on the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Murphy\u2019s groin condition, osteitis pubis, has sidelined him for significant portions of each of the last two seasons, but he insisted it\u2019s not inhibiting him right now. He\u2019s thankful for that, since it did hurt throughout much of the summer. His lack of quickness and agility at this age makes him an imperfect fit in coach Jeff Blashill\u2019s aggressive systems, though, and he\u2019s struggling as a result. The Hawks have been outscored 5-2 with an ugly 38.9% scoring-chance ratio during his five-on-five ice time.<\/p>\n
Blashill and Murphy did \u201ctalk a little bit\u201d about the situation before the Kraken game, Blashill said. \u201cConnor has been a good player for us, and Connor is a leader for us,\u201d Blashill added. \u201cSome nights he\u2019s going to play more than others. That\u2019s the reality of where our situation is. Some nights, certain guys are playing really good hockey, and they\u2019ll get more minutes \u2014 that\u2019s why we\u2019re dressing seven [defensemen]. Some nights, they\u2019re not, and Connor gets more minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The seven-defensemen lineups certainly are a factor, but Murphy has notably played the least of the seven defensemen in three straight games. Louis Crevier and fellow veteran Matt Grzelcyk have surpassed him in the pecking order. Rookie Artyom Levshunov\u2019s steady improvement is relevant, too. The seven-defensemen lineups were instituted in part to shelter him, but as he improves his decision-making and learns how to succeed against NHL competition, they become less necessary. Levshunov recorded an assist in three straight games before Monday, then played a season-high 19:09 in Seattle as the Hawks generated a 16-5 advantage in scoring chances during his ice time. He\u2019s on a promising track.<\/p>\n
So what will the Hawks do with Murphy moving forward? In the short term, Blashill has a tricky situation on his hands. Long-term, it seems increasingly likely this will be Murphy\u2019s final season in Chicago. His contract is set to expire, and it\u2019s possible he could be shopped before the March 6 trade deadline if he stays healthy and retains some value. The Hawks\u2019 defensive youth movement has reached the cusp of a full takeover, and it might soon push out the last member of the old guard.<\/p>\n
The Hawks weren\u2019t able to penetrate a tough defense in a 3-1 defeat Monday that kept them winless on the road trip. With nine points in nine games for Rockford, Oliver Moore earned a call-up. He made his Hawks season debut Monday against the Kraken.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<img class="Image" alt="Oliver Moore" srcset="https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/3f642ec\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/2047×1638+0+0\/resize\/840×672!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F26%2F61%2F79f7e0da4714aa02fa539b21df50%2Fmoore-1.jpg<\/a> 1x,https:\/\/c<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Introduction to Connor Murphy’s Situation VANCOUVER, British Columbia \u2014 When the Blackhawks made their first-ever trip to Seattle in November 2021, veteran defenseman Connor Murphy logged a hefty 22:30 of ice time. That was one of 33 games during the 2021-22 season in which Murphy, who had just signed a four-year extension the previous summer, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31535,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-31533","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/516700e\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/5331x3043+0+0\/resize\/1461x834!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F23%2F9b%2F3ba2a93340ccbceb20483a9a3758%2Fmurphy-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31533"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31533"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31536,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31533\/revisions\/31536"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}