The Edmonton Oilers might be on the cusp of keeping one of their latest acquisitions for the future.

On Sunday, TSN’s Ryan Rishaug reported that the Oilers are close to signing defenceman Connor Murphy to a new contract.

Rishaug noted that a new deal might get done in the early part of the week.

Murphy has reached the end of the four-year contract he signed with the Chicago Blackhawks in August 2021. The deal carried an AAV of $4.4 million, with many expecting the Dublin, Ohio, native to receive a pay bump in his next contract.

The Oilers thought highly enough of Murphy that the team gave up a second-round pick for him ahead of the trade deadline back in March. He ended up scoring one goal and three assists for four points in his 20 regular-season games with Edmonton. He posted a plus/minus of +1, while averaging 20:27 of ice time. In total, the 33-year-old notched five goals and 12 assists for 17 points.

Murphy also added two goals and three points in the Oilers’ opening-round series against the Anaheim Ducks, which saw Edmonton surprisingly bow out in six games.

While Murphy’s numbers weren’t earth-shattering, he ensured some stability on the second pair for the Oilers, a team that has been notoriously shallow on the blue line. He isn’t necessarily going to light up the scoreboard like Evan Bouchard, but being a guy who can log heavy minutes on the right side will be crucial if the Oilers want to quickly turn things around next season. On top of that, they might need to have a top-four asset locked down for the future if Darnell Nurse’s trade request comes through.

According to PuckPedia, the Oilers have a little over $10.5 million in projected cap space for next season after signing Jason Dickinson to a five-year contract with a $4 million cap hit.

In 825 NHL regular-season games, Murphy posted 48 goals and 129 assists for 177 points, along with seven points in 15 Stanley Cup Playoff contests.

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