NHL Trade Rumors: Chicago Blackhawks interested in Ryan Murray

According to the latest NHL trade rumors, the Chicago Blackhawks and Columbus Blue Jackets have discussed a trade involving Blue Jackets defenseman Ryan Murray.

Armed with the third overall pick, the Chicago Blackhawks go into the offseason looking to build their roster. They’ve missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs in two straight seasons. To end their brief drought, the Blackhawks will have to fix their defense. According to the latest NHL trade rumors, they’re being active.

A report from Scott Powers of The Athletic links the Blackhawks to Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Ryan Murray. Murray is a restricted free agent and, according to Evolving Hockey’s free agent projections, is projected to make $4.146 million a season for three seasons.

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He would be a nice upgrade for the Blue Jackets. When Murray’s healthy, he’s an underrated defenseman. He had a career year this season, putting up a career-high 29 points in 56 games. Murray scored one goal and had 28 assists.

This season, he played a lot of minutes, averaging 21:26 of ice time per game. That’s the second highest average of his career. Murray needed to fill in with Zach Werenski struggling and he did very well with Seth Jones.

However, the issue with him is he can’t stay healthy. Murray has played in six seasons. Out of a possible 492 games (82 games per season), he has only appeared in 320. Murray has missed about 35% of the games in his career. Last season, he struggled with numerous upper-body injuries.

According to Powers, the Blue Jackets are seeking draft picks for him. This makes sense, as Columbus has very few after going all-in at the trade deadline. Obviously, the Blackhawks aren’t giving up the third overall pick. But other picks could be in play.

However, the Blue Jackets might no longer be interested in moving him. Especially given the uncertain future of their franchise. That said, the Blue Jackets aren’t short on NHL defensemen, so trading Murray is still plausible.

Chicago doesn’t have a third-round pick, as that got sent to the Arizona Coyotes in the Marian Hossa trade. However, the Blackhawks still have their own second-round pick and two fourth-round picks. In 2018, the Hawks traded Tommy Wingels to the Boston Bruins for their 2019 fourth-round pick.

Murray would be a good target for the Blackhawks to improve their defense. While his injury history is alarming, as they say, beggers can’t be choosers. The free agent market doesn’t have many viable options and Murray is one of the better ones available on the trade market.