Blue Jackets Had Been Shopping Ryan Murray Prior To Injury

Ryan Murray’s name has come up in trade speculation for several years now and it appears that his name has been out there again lately.  TSN’s Frank Seravalli reports (Twitter link) that prior to the broken hand he recently sustained, the Blue Jackets had been shopping the defenseman.  Of course, now that he’s set to miss three-to-four weeks, those discussions are almost certainly on hold.

Murray’s injury history is a rather lengthy one and it undoubtedly is part of the reason that his name is once again out there in trade discussions.  He has only managed to surpass the 60-game mark once in his career due to a variety of injuries and no matter how effective a player is, one that consistently misses that much time can’t realistically be a part of a long-term core group.

When the 26-year-old has been in the lineup over the years, he has been a capable top-four defender that has logged a little more than 20 minutes a game over the course of his career.  His offensive upside isn’t particularly high with just 14 goals in 330 career NHL contests but he’s an effective stay-at-home defender who skates well enough to succeed in the current environment where mobility is becoming more and more crucial.

That’s part of the reason that Columbus gave Murray a two-year deal this summer with a $4.6MM AAV despite the fact that he missed 26 regular season games plus the entire playoffs just one year ago.  However, with the team appearing to be heading for a rebuild, he becomes one of their most prominent trade options.  They’ll just have to wait a month or so until he gets the green light to return for those talks to rekindle.