{"id":580716,"date":"2026-04-04T01:22:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T01:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/580716\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T01:22:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T01:22:11","slug":"oilers-defenseman-was-on-canadiens-trade-radar-at-deadline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/580716\/","title":{"rendered":"Oilers Defenseman Was on Canadiens Trade Radar at Deadline"},"content":{"rendered":"

Connor Murphy<\/a> has been a big addition for the Edmonton Oilers this season. He\u2019s fit in seamlessly and stabilized their blue line since his arrival. One could argue that the Oilers made a wise choice when they targeted Murphy from the Chicago Blackhawks, as he was the exact kind of defenseman they needed. Interestingly, it wasn\u2019t only the Oilers who took a long look at Murphy before the trade.<\/p>\n

TSN insider Pierre LeBrun<\/a> reports the Montreal Canadiens kicked tires on Murphy as well. While a guest on The Sick Podcast, LeBrun explained that the Habs eyed a few options, ultimately deciding the price to acquire an upgrade on defense wasn\u2019t worth it. <\/p>\n

\u2026we know they explored different options. They looked at Connor Murphy, who went from Chicago to Edmonton, and had conversations with Philly about Rasmus Ristolainen<\/a>. I bring these names up because now with Carrier hurt, it\u2019s worth noting.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cBut having said that, sometimes the best trades you make are the ones you don\u2019t. Given some of the prices I was hearing during that period, there\u2019s just as good a chance the Canadiens would have regretted giving up the assets for the return.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Window for the Canadiens and Oilers Is Different<\/p>\n

LeBrun praised the Canadiens for having self-restraint. He noted that the team is a potential contender, but they\u2019re not as close to Cup contention as the Oilers. <\/p>\n

\"ConnorConnor Murphy Edmonton Oilers defenseman<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re playing their best hockey of the season and heading to the playoffs, so all bets are off. Tampa isn\u2019t an ideal matchup, as they\u2019re the best team in the East, but in a wide-open Eastern Conference, anything can happen. This is just the first step in what could honestly be a seven- to nine-year window where this organization takes multiple swings at contention. That\u2019s exciting for any Canadiens fan.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Oilers, however, needed that one piece on the blueline that could shift things around and be the ideal fit. Murphy has been that since his arrival. He\u2019s been a godsend for Darnell Nurse<\/a> and pushed Jake Walman<\/a> down to the third pair with Ty Emberson<\/a>. That\u2019s evened things out, giving the Oilers seven viable options for the playoffs. And because it\u2019s win or bust for the Oilers, it was worth it to spend a bit more to land Murphy. <\/p>\n

All things considered, it was a good move for the Oilers, who gave up a 2028 second-round draft pick to get Murphy at 50% retained. <\/p>\n

Next: Insider Hints at San Jose as Landing Spot if Connor McDavid Leaves Edmonton<\/a><\/p>\n

\tDiscover more from NHL Trade Talk<\/p>\n

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Connor Murphy has been a big addition for the Edmonton Oilers this season. He\u2019s fit in seamlessly and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":580717,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,164392,448,82,2008],"class_list":{"0":"post-580716","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-connor-murphy","11":"tag-nhl","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-top-story"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=580716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580716\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/580717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=580716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=580716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=580716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}