This is the 2025-26 edition — an archived read. Read the 2026-27 report →
Connor Murphy
Chicago Blackhawks Defense
68 games at 32 on a club that conceded 284 goals, and 19 points to show for it.
| Season | Team | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM | PP | SH | GW | S | S% | TOI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-14 | PHX | 30 | 1 | 7 | 8 | +5 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 30 | 3.3 | 17:59 |
| 2014-15 | ARI | 73 | 4 | 3 | 7 | -27 | 42 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 72 | 5.6 | 16:48 |
| 2015-16 | ARI | 78 | 6 | 11 | 17 | +5 | 48 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 101 | 5.9 | 20:31 |
| 2016-17 | ARI | 77 | 2 | 15 | 17 | -13 | 45 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 81 | 2.5 | 19:11 |
| 2017-18 | CHI | 76 | 2 | 12 | 14 | -3 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 109 | 1.8 | 16:22 |
| 2018-19 | CHI | 52 | 5 | 8 | 13 | +12 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 84 | 5.9 | 19:29 |
| 2019-20 | CHI | 58 | 5 | 14 | 19 | +2 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 117 | 4.3 | 21:15 |
| 2020-21 | CHI | 50 | 3 | 12 | 15 | +1 | 35 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 78 | 3.9 | 22:09 |
| 2021-22 | CHI | 57 | 4 | 6 | 10 | -14 | 47 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 71 | 5.6 | 21:46 |
| 2022-23 | CHI | 80 | 7 | 6 | 13 | -10 | 69 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 85 | 8.2 | 19:23 |
| 2023-24 | CHI | 46 | 2 | 6 | 8 | -19 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 3.9 | 19:50 |
| 2024-25 | CHI | 68 | 2 | 17 | 19 | -2 | 52 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 84 | 2.4 | 20:37 |
| 2025-26 so far | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Career | — | 745 | 43 | 117 | 160 | -63 | 489 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 963 | 4.5 | 19:31 |
This Season So Far
The 2025-26 season has not started. The empty row above is his, and both it and this paragraph fill in on their own from the morning after he first plays: what he has done, what it is worth against his own last season, and the run he is on when the two disagree.
Last Season
2 goals and 17 assists in 68 games for 19 points, minus-2, on 20:37 a night.
45.3 per cent at five-on-five, the 15th percentile — the best figure among the club’s regular defencemen. His on-ice goals were 40-65 against an expected 40-48, which is 17 goals of goaltending against him on chances that were merely bad.
The Finesse Game
Almost none. 84 shots and 2 goals with 76 per cent from beyond 40 feet, and a first pass that is short and safe.
17 assists at 20 minutes a night is thin and always has been. He is on the ice to defend.
The Physical Game
6-4 and 212, and he plays a heavy, honest game. He clears his crease, blocks shots, and finishes checks, and he is one of two men on this blue line who can do the first of those.
52 penalty minutes over 68 games is a moderate rate. The body is the recurring issue — he has cleared 75 games twice in twelve seasons.
The Intangibles
Twelve seasons, two organisations, and a long stretch as the defensive conscience of a club that has been rebuilding for most of it.
At 32 with this injury history, the projection is 60 games of competent defensive hockey. On a young blue line that is worth having and it is not worth much.
The numbers underneath
On the ice
Five-on-five, 2024-25 · 1,181 minutes
- Expected goals
- 45.3%
- 15th pct
- Shot attempts
- 44.4%
- 10th pct
share of the chances while he was out there
share of the attempts while he was out there
Goals while he was on the ice: 40 for, 65 against. Expected: 39.8 and 48.2.
The eye and the numbers
HindsightThe two rank him within 6 points of one another. It was written for a back edition, with the seasons that followed already known. Neither the agreement nor the gap says anything about the eye, and this report is excluded from the club-level comparison for the same reason.
Both bars are percentiles among the 357 skaters in this edition with a report and enough ice time. The report bar ranks the mean of the grades above — 67 on their own scale — against every other report's mean. The numbers bar ranks his share of expected goals. A gap is a disagreement about where he belongs, not two scales talking past each other.
Usual linemates
2024-25 · 1181 minutes at five-on-five
- Alex Vlasic41%
- Nolan Allanoff the roster14%
Share of his five-on-five ice time spent alongside each player, measured from shift charts. Special teams are excluded: a power-play unit is not a line.
Why the numbers land there
Five-on-five, 2024-25
- The club
- CHI took 43.2% of the expected goals as a club. His own share is 45.3% — 2.1 above the club he did it on.
- The role
- First pair, 1,181 minutes at five-on-five — 83rd percentile in ice time.
With and without
| Teammate | Together | Him apart | Mate apart |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Vlasic | 43.4% | 46.6% | 41.1% |
| Connor Bedard | 44.3% | 45.6% | 40.2% |
| Ryan Donato | 50.6% | 43.3% | 41.1% |
43.4% together, 46.6% for him apart and 41.1% for Vlasic apart. He was better away from Vlasic, who was no worse away from him — the pairing cost him more than it cost Vlasic.
Expected-goal share while both were on the ice, and for each man in the minutes he played without the other. Apart is the pair subtracted from his own totals. It does not settle who was carrying whom — apart from each other, both were still playing with somebody — but it does say whether the share travelled when the pairing broke up.
Where he shoots from
goal on goal missed
116 unblocked shots in 2024-25, 2 of them goals. His median goal came from 38 feet. 6% of his shots came from inside twenty feet, 76% from beyond forty.