CHICAGO — What must Connor Murphy be thinking? Like, really thinking, deep down?
Murphy is 31 years old. He’s in his 12th NHL season. He’s played 721 NHL games. He’s signed with the Blackhawks through the end of next season. And he’s never played in a Stanley Cup playoff game.
Well, not a real one, anyway. Murphy is always quick to say he doesn’t really count the nine games in the Edmonton bubble at the end of the 2019-20 season. That play-in series victory over the Oilers and the subsequent loss to Vegas technically qualifies him to not be Jeff Skinner’s successor as the longest-tenured NHL player without a playoff appearance, but playing in a sterile, empty building is not the postseason atmosphere you spend your life dreaming about. Murphy craves the playoffs — the real playoffs — as much as any player in the NHL.
If anyone on the Blackhawks has the right to say “get me out of here” during Year Whatever of a however-many-year rebuilding plan, it’s Murphy, by far the team’s longest-serving player. His timeline and the Blackhawks’ timeline simply don’t line up. And surely some contender would be happy to acquire a steady second-pair defenseman who can play on either side, who’s not afraid to throw the body around and who’s great in the room. But Murphy hasn’t asked out. Not explicitly, anyway.
So what must he think when he sees fellow alternate captain Seth Jones — a year younger, with four fewer years in Chicago on his resume, with five more seasons on the long-term contract he chose to sign, and with 37 career playoff games under his belt, including four years of “real” playoff appearances — going public with his trade request? Pining for the playoffs in greener pastures?
Knowing Murphy, he probably understands. He’s probably not bitter. Murphy doesn’t do bitter. Besides, Jones is a good player who brings a good attitude to the rink every day and is well-liked and well-respected by his teammates.
“The thing with Seth that I don’t worry about is he’s a pro,” captain Nick Foligno said on Saturday. “He’s going to continue to show up, he’s going to continue to do what he needs to do to help this team be successful, and himself. That’s the most important thing. I don’t have to worry about that with Seth. I know what I’m going to get from him. … Obviously, you wish he felt differently, but he has his reasons, and rightfully so. It’s how he feels. The one thing, though, is it’s never going to bleed into his game.”
That’s the right thing to say. Accurate, too. But it still has to gnaw at Foligno, who instead of chasing that elusive Stanley Cup in his late 30s is pouring his heart and his soul and the twilight of his career into trying to build a positive, winning culture in Chicago, planting crops he’ll likely never get to harvest. It has to eat at Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teräväinen, who signed multi-year contracts to be part of the long-term solution here.
“That’s his thing and he’s going to play hard every night here,” said Teräväinen, who picked up his 500th career point with a power-play goal in Sunday’s 5-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. “It doesn’t really affect anything. There’s different situations, of course. We haven’t played good this year, so that’s what happens.”
Teuvo Teräväinen picked up his 500th career point with a power-play goal against the Maple Leafs. (Patrick McDermott / Getty Images)
It might not affect anything now, after just a few days of Jones’ request going public. But it’s fair to wonder if and when Jones’ desire to be dealt to a contender becomes a problem. Becomes a distraction. Because while the trade deadline is just 12 days away, it’s entirely possible this saga drags on to the summer — or beyond.
Jones, with his blend of size, skating and ability to play a ton of minutes, would be an attractive addition for any contender, but his contract makes everything complicated. Even with the salary cap skyrocketing over the next three seasons, few contenders can absorb five seasons of a $9.5 million cap hit without some fiscal acrobatics. Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson’s options will further be limited by Jones’ full no-movement clause.
Davidson has absolutely no interest in eating half of that cap hit for the next five seasons. At the same time, Davidson actually needs Jones’ contract on the books or he could have trouble reaching the salary floor of $70.6 million next season, $76.9 million in 2026-27 and $83.9 million in 2027-28. Jones’ contract isn’t hamstringing the Blackhawks, it’s helping them. At least for a couple more seasons, until Connor Bedard’s sure-to-be-massive second contract kicks in and Davidson finally reels in a big fish or two in free agency.
The Blackhawks will try to accommodate Jones, sure, but they won’t do it at their own expense. At least, they’d better not. This isn’t some franchise icon, a longtime legend by whom they have to do right. Davidson’s only obligation is to the Blackhawks, and if it takes him four months or four years to find the right taker for Jones, so be it. Davidson absolutely should take as much time as he wants, as much time as he needs. Jones has a very lucrative contract and he’ll be expected to honor it.
Is that tenable, though? Foligno’s assessment of Jones is fair based on all we’ve learned about him over the last four seasons, and Foligno was right to caution against reading too much into any off nights the defenseman has. Jones said he’s going to give the Blackhawks everything he has while he’s still here, and we can only take him at his word.
But there was a smattering of boos when Jones took a holding penalty in the second period Sunday night that led to Nick Robertson’s power-play goal. When Jones got beaten down the wall to a loose puck by Max Domi, who then found a net-crashing Robertson for another goal later in the period, the groans were audible as the replay played.
What happens the next time Jones is announced as a starter at the United Center? He already was a polarizing figure to fans who (wrongly) resented him for his contract, misdirecting their anger at Stan Bowman toward the defenseman, just as they did with Brent Seabrook. Jones’ publicly stated desire to bail on this interminable Blackhawks rebuild — no matter how reasonable, no matter how maturely handled — isn’t going to help matters.
Jones went public to try to force the issue, to expedite the process. Now that it’s out there, now that his teammates and the fans know, is a little awkwardness enough of a reason for Davidson to rush a Jones trade? Will Jones’ calm, professional manner become less calm and less professional if he’s still wearing a Blackhawks sweater come training camp? Will this get ugly?
Who knows? Jones doesn’t seem the type to make this ugly, but as everyone always says, this is a business. And he took his request to the press for a reason: He wants out.
Davidson has to do right by the Blackhawks, not Jones. But the longer this goes, and the more uncomfortable this gets, the more likely those two things become one and the same.
(Top photo: Melissa Tamez / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
