![\"Connor](\"https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/e0d31e5\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/6000x4000+0+0\/resize\/840x560!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F47%2F45%2F149b64ac4d20ab95f4cae11454d6%2Fmurphy.jpg\")
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ANAHEIM, Calif. \u2014 If Seth Jones has a right to be fed up with losing, fellow Blackhawks veteran defenseman Connor Murphy certainly does, too.<\/p>\n
Jones has endured four undeniably brutal years of Hawks hockey, but Murphy has slogged through eight \u2014 and before that, four years of Coyotes irrelevance to begin his NHL career. He has yet to really make the playoffs, with his only official appearance coming in the 2020 bubble when the Hawks were the No. 12 seed.<\/p>\n
On one hand, that bothers Murphy \u2014 how could it not? On the other hand, he\u2019s not about to plan a pity party for himself, nor push to get traded to a playoff-bound team.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt sucks being in the bottom of the standings each year, the last however many years,\u201d Murphy said Thursday. \u201cI try to look at the other side of it being a good test. Knowing if you can keep yourself strong and play well through hard times, then when times get good, it\u2019ll just go smoother. It\u2019s always a test. [You need to] have trust that things will work out in the end.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a reassuring mantra, but it\u2019s not guaranteed to be true. He\u2019ll turn 32 next month, signifying he\u2019s well into the latter half of his playing career, without having experienced any good times. So is he just extraordinarily patient?<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can always compare [yourself] and feel bad for yourself, but that\u2019s just part of the game,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of players in harder situations. I\u2019ve been blessed, big-time, and given a ton of opportunity. I\u2019ve been treated really fairly and very well over my career. Who\u2019s to say that would\u2019ve happened if I was on a top team in the league? There\u2019s always positives to take.<\/p>\n
![\"Who](\"https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/bea73e2\/2147483647\/strip\/false\/crop\/1829x1029+0+0\/resize\/1200x675!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.vox-cdn.com%2Fthumbor%2FlEYgR6J4iNR63liMgubRHP91gTE%3D%2F37x0%3A1866x1162%2F1829x1162%2Ffilters%3Afocal%28342x310%3A343x311%29%2Fcdn.vox-cdn.com%2Fuploads%2Fchorus_asset%2Ffile%2F24633399%2FJones_Murphy_captain.png\")
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\u201cI can\u2019t be too picky, can\u2019t complain or can\u2019t have any sour taste because, personally, I\u2019ve been treated well by staff, by fans and by the community in Chicago. I\u2019m just grateful for that treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n
It must be noted that the comparisons to Jones were in no way suggested by Murphy, and that Murphy enduring even more losing than Jones shouldn\u2019t invalidate Jones\u2019 justifiable frustration.<\/p>\n
They have very different personalities, for one thing, and plenty of other NHL players on the impatient end of the spectrum would\u2019ve sought to exit this deep rebuild long before Jones did.<\/p>\n
Murphy and Jones had a short conversation after, not before, Jones first told the Sun-Times on Feb. 19 about his interest in a trade. Murphy said they\u2019ve become good friends and he wants Jones to \u201cbe happy with whatever happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coincidentally, Murphy has been lightly mentioned in trade rumors in recent weeks, too. This year\u2019s heightened demand for right-handed defensemen and relative lack of selling teams could create a market for him.<\/p>\n
And with so many defensive prospects climbing the Hawks\u2019 developmental ladder, it might make sense to open his second\/third-pairing spot. (It would make less sense to open Jones\u2019 first-pairing spot this soon).<\/p>\n
Murphy\u2019s recurring groin injury will likely give buyers pause, but he said he\u2019s more optimistic it won\u2019t affect him the rest of the season after undergoing more treatment and strength training during the 4 Nations break.<\/p>\n
So it\u2019s conceivable, albeit unlikely, that Murphy could be traded and Jones not before the deadline Friday. That would be an ironic outcome, considering Murphy \u2014 who has one year left on his contract at $4.4 million \u2014 insists he would prefer to stay while Jones makes his opposite preference increasingly obvious.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s so many players \u2014 good players \u2014 we\u2019ve had here over the years that have been traded,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cThe last few years, I\u2019ve always had my mind prepared that it could happen. You guard yourself emotionally when you, in the back of your mind, know it\u2019s a possibility.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The lack of team success Murphy has experienced during his NHL career certainly bothers him, but he tries to focus more on being grateful for his ample opportunity and fair treatment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15833,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chicago-blackhawks"],"yoast_head":"\n