New Jersey Devils Acquire Ryan Murphy From Minnesota Wild
By Nick Villano
The New Jersey Devils made their first trade of the season, albeit a small one. They sent Michael Kapla to the Minnesota Wild for former first-round pick Ryan Murphy.
The New Jersey Devils actually made a trade on Wednesday, and they acquired a former 12th-overall pick defenseman. This is starting off good, but this will likely go down as a minor move to add depth.
The Devils sent Michael Kapla to the Minnesota Wild for Ryan Murphy. The 25 year old will once again try to find the skill that led to the Carolina Hurricanes taking him at 12th overall in 2011. His draft profile says he was a one-trick pony, but that one skill was very, very good. He was an elite offensive defenseman with the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL.
He scored 79 points in his draft year, leading to such a high pick. Murphy never really hit those heights again in his career. The very next season, he struggled through injuries, but returned in time to dominate in the playoffs. He recorded 22 points in 16 playoff games, getting them to Round 3 of the playoffs.
The next season he was named captain of the Rangers. Obviously, Hurricanes fans probably wanted him to make the jump to the NHL, but it looked like he needed another season in Juniors. Well, he ended up seeing yet another drop off.
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This was six years ago. That’s a long time since he started seeing things fall off that some coach wasn’t able to fix it. He’s spent 174 games in the NHL, and has 42 points. That’s very average to below average, especially for a guy who isn’t providing much on the defensive front.
Murphy is an undersized defenseman. He’s 5’11 and 181 lbs. He’s 25, so it’s not likely he’s going to put on more weight and play a different style. He is what he is at this point.
The Devils gave up Kapla, who has five NHL games on his resume. He’s just a year younger, so his NHL upside isn’t too great. He’s been fine in the AHL, but that entire Binghamton Devils defense have let their goalies out to dry at one point or another. Eric Gryba is trying to be a veteran presence, but overall it’s a massive disappointment.
Murphy has an outside chance to give the Devils some depth after we learned Sami Vatanen got a concussion on Monday. Once he goes on injured reserve, which is likely being his second concussion in a year, that leaves the Devils shorthanded on defense. They already have Ben Lovejoy on IR.
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Even if Murphy doesn’t ever get into the lineup, someone with his natural ability will be nice to have in practice. It will help the Devils practice on the penalty kill, which is the only thing keeping them in some games. He’s a threat to shoot at all times, and can pass the puck well even now.
Murphy could finally find the right fit for himself, but with Will Butcher already on this team, and now Egor Yakovlev getting into the lineup, this seems like it’s a move to add depth to the minor leagues.