Report: Ryan Murphy appears done in the NHL.

A bust?

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
Report: Ryan Murphy appears done in the NHL.
Carlos Gonzalez/TNS/Zuma

It may still be too early, but it is certainly starting to look like we can consider the Carolina Hurricanes 1st round selection at the 2011 National Hockey League Entry Draft a bust. 

According to a report from Igor Eronko of Sports Express, it now appears that 26 year old defenseman Ryan Murray will be leaving the National Hockey League this summer, opting instead to sign with a team in the Kontinental Hockey League. Eronko reports that Murray has agreed to a 1 year deal with HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk of the KHL, a team that is based out of Nizhnekamsk in Russia. Call me cynical but I find it hard to believe that Murray would have chosen this path had he had any doors left open to him in the National Hockey League, a sign of how far he has fallen in the eyes of so many NHL general managers and organizations. 

When he was drafted in 2011 Murray was selected 12th overall in that draft and famously legendary NHL analyst Don Cherry had suggested that the teams had passed on Murray would soon come to regret it. Cherry's prediction however never came to fruition and the young defenseman's career instead sputtered with him consistently bouncing between the NLH and the American Hockey League. Over the course of several seasons the former first rounder was unable to find a consistent spot on an NHL roster, this in spite of being traded multiple times to teams like the Minnesota Wild and finally to the New Jersey Devils.

Over the course of roughly 7 years Murray was the constant subject of trades rumors and would only go on to compete in 125 NHL games, recording 8 goals and 35 assists along the way. His most recent NHL season, a season he split between the Minnesota wild and New Jersey Devils, saw him appear in a total of just 3 NHL games and it was becoming clear that team's did not see him as a consistent NHL level player.

Signing with a relatively small club in the KHL has to be a career low point for Murray at this point, but perhaps that will serve as the motivation he needs to return to the form that once saw him as one of the most highly touted prospects at an NHL draft. 


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