{"id":604233,"date":"2026-06-22T05:06:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T05:06:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/604233\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T05:06:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T05:06:21","slug":"edmonton-oilers-closing-in-on-deal-with-big-rugged-veteran-d-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/604233\/","title":{"rendered":"Edmonton Oilers closing in on deal with big, rugged veteran d-man"},"content":{"rendered":"

This in from TSN\u2019s Ryan Rishaug, news that the Edmonton Oilers<\/a> are closing on a deal with big, rugged d-man Connor Murphy.<\/p>\n

Said Ryan Rishaug: \u201cSounds like solid progress has been made between Murphy and the Oilers, wouldn\u2019t be surprised to see something get done in the next day or so.\u201d<\/p>\n

And on the new 5-year Jason Dickinson contract, PuckPedia reports: \u201cThe Jason Dickinson contract with Oilers 5 Yrs at $4M Cap Hit.<\/p>\n

\u201cYr 1 \u2013 4: $2.5M Salary, $1.5M Signing Bonus.<\/p>\n

\u201cYr 5: $3M Salary, $1M SB Full NMC Yr 1-3 (expires June 15, 2029), 16 Team Trade list Yr 4-5.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Murphy\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Murphy<\/p>\n

My take<\/p>\n

1. This is good news. Rishaug is an excellent source and this was forcefully stated.<\/p>\n

2. Murphy just got better and better in his brief time with the Oilers. He gave the Oilers the kind of smart, aggressive, sound defensive play they had not had since Adam Larsson and Kris Russell were on the team. He also elevated the play of his partner Darnell Nurse.<\/p>\n

\"Oilers<\/a><\/p>\n

Oilers dmen Grade A 2023-26<\/p>\n

3. The downside of Murphy. He\u2019s 33. If he signs a three-year deal he\u2019ll be 33, 34, and 35 in those years. NHL d-man tend to drop off a cliff between 33 and 35, even very good ones. The number of NHL d-man over the age of 35 playing a Top 4 role in the NHL can be counted on one hand. Any contract over three years of term represents either the Oilers attempting to lower Murphy\u2019s new cap hit or an exercise in wishful thinking.<\/p>\n

4. One area of concern about Murphy? He hands out a lot of hits. But he takes a high rate of hits as well. He\u2019s high impact player, both giving out and taking hits. Best to pair him with a solid puck mover who can do most of the heavy lifting in their own end.<\/p>\n

If he\u2019s paired up with Jake Walman that would be ironic, as Walman is one of the least hit d-men in the NHL and one of the least likely to throw a hit. The Odd Couple. But might well work. Walman is an excellent passer. And they are both smart players in terms of positioning, at least when Walman is dialed in.<\/p>\n

\"Hits<\/a><\/p>\n

Hits Taken<\/p>\n

Will you support the Cult of Hockey and the Edmonton Journal? $1 for six months. Let\u2019s do this!<\/a>At the Cult of Hockey<\/p>\n

\u2018Now that\u2019s a bargain\u2019: Hockey world reacts to Jason Dickinson\u2019s 5-year deal with Edmonton Oilers<\/a><\/p>\n

Edmonton Oilers avoid big mistake, hold on to top-performing prospect goalie<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018Can\u2019t wait for this soap opera\u2019: Hockey world reacts to NHL clearing Edmonton Oilers to hire Mike Babcock<\/a><\/p>\n

Edmonton Oilers likely to say goodbye to consistent 20 goal scoring forward<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This in from TSN\u2019s Ryan Rishaug, news that the Edmonton Oilers are closing on a deal with big,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":573770,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5125],"tags":[3467,1563,1809,57603,198,146,5300,5,3144,4446,58432,4,24,11846,8686,27],"class_list":["post-604233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-edmonton-oilers","tag-adam-larsson","tag-connor-murphy","tag-darnell-nurse","tag-drew-o39connor","tag-edmonton","tag-edmonton-oilers","tag-edmontonoilers","tag-hockey","tag-jake-walman","tag-jason-dickinson","tag-kris-russell","tag-nhl","tag-oilers","tag-ryan-rishaug","tag-shaughn-butts","tag-vancouver-canucks"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116792025832317498","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=604233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/573770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=604233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=604233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=604233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}