The Edmonton Oilers have signed pending unrestricted free agent defenceman Connor Murphy to a five-year contract, TSN’s Ryan Rishaug reported Monday.

The deal will carry a $4.1 million cap hit for the 33-year-old right-shot blue liner. Murphy is the second pending unrestricted free agent the Oilers signed in the last 24 hours, inking Jason Dickinson to a five-year deal, carrying a $4 million cap hit.

Rishaug reported Sunday that the two sides were nearing an agreement on a new contract.

Murphy, who stands at 6-foot-4, 193 pounds, was acquired by the Oilers ahead of the NHL trade deadline from the Chicago Blackhawks for a 2028 second-round pick. He appeared in 20 regular season games for the Oilers, scoring one goal and four points, adding a pair of goals and three points in six playoff games.

While Dickinson is one of the league’s premier shutdown centres, Murphy is a highly regarded defensive defenceman. Last season, he drove play defensively at a nine per cent rate above league average, offence at an 11 per cent rate below league average, and penalty kill play at a league average rate, according to HockeyViz, who had his overall impact at that of a high-end third-line defenceman. HockeyViz’s third pair rating is down from where it had been in years past, as Murphy has been a consistent high-end second-pair defenceman.

Truth be told, Murphy had some struggles in Edmonton after he arrived, with the team controlling just 44.4 per cent of the shot attempt share, 47.8 per cent of the expected goal share at five-on-five, and breaking even in goals 12-12. That could have impacted his overall rating, though his goal share in the playoffs spiked to 64.6 per cent, with the Oilers outscoring the Anaheim Ducks 7-4 in his five-on-five minutes.

Drafted by the Phoenix Coyotes 20th overall in the 2011 draft, Murphy spent four years in the desert before being acquired by then Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman alongside Laurent Dauphin in exchange for defenceman Niklas Hjalmarsson. Murphy has spent the last nine years in Chicago, and across his 825 NHL games, has scored 48 goals and 177 points.

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s managing editor and The Nation Network’s news director. He can be followed on X at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.

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