Mike Murphy joins the Fold

by Bob Wage on Mar 18, 2009 5:42 PM EDT

The Hurricanes just announced the signing of goalie prospect Mike Murphy. The youngster has been lights out for the Belleville Bulls this season and is currently the top rated goalie in the OHL.

This is a portion of the Hurricanes press release:

‘CANES AGREE TO TERMS WITH GOALTENDER MIKE MURPHY

Carolina’s 2008 sixth-round pick led OHL in goals-against average and save percentage

RALEIGH, NC—Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has agreed to terms with goaltender Mike Murphy on a three-year, entry-level contract. The deal will pay Murphy $65,000 per year at the minor-league level, and an average of $541,667 per year at the NHL level, as well as a $235,000 signing bonus.

“Mike has had an outstanding junior career, and that is reflected in his record and the accolades he has received,” said Tony MacDonald, Director of Amateur Scouting for the Hurricanes. “He is a very competitive player with considerable upside and will add valuable depth to our organization at the goaltender position.”

Murphy, 20, finished the 2008-09 regular season with an Ontario Hockey League-leading 2.08 goals-against average and a league-best .940 save percentage while playing in 54 of 68 games for the Belleville Bulls. The Kingston, Ont., native posted a 40-9-2-2 record in helping lead the Bulls to first place in the OHL’s Eastern Conference. In 124 career regular-season games with the Bulls in parts of four seasons, Murphy (5’11”, 161 lbs.) registered a 2.42 goals-against average, a .929 save percentage, an 85-23-5-5 record and eight shutouts. He competed in two OHL All-Star Classics, was named OHL Goaltender of the Year for 2007-08 and helped Belleville reach the Memorial Cup in 2008. He will stay with Belleville for its 2009 postseason run which begins tonight against Sudbury.

Forget about adding depth to the organization, if Murphy can keep up those kinds of numbers, in a couple of years he could be pushing Cam Ward for some playing time.

We were fortunate enough to interview Murphy at the prospects camp this past summer and he shared a pretty funny story. Check here for a link to that interview. Congrats to the young goalie and we look forward to seeing him again next training camp.

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Comments

great signing, from what i hear of this guy, i really like it – should be good to see him at the AHL level or pushing for playing time in the NHL in the near future

by Lrccolt4 on Mar 18, 2009 5:44 PM EDT reply actions

Mike is a very good kid. You can’t help but root for a guy like this.

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by Cory Lavalette on Mar 18, 2009 9:34 PM EDT reply actions

How did this guy slip to the sixth round?

by prplmnkydw on Mar 19, 2009 12:31 AM EDT reply actions

Not only that, he went undrafted his first year of eligibility.

He’s very unorthodox and faced many of the same hurdles Tim Thomas has. Probably b/c of Thomas he’s given more of a chance. All that being said, all he does is stop the puck, and you can’t ask for much more than that. I’m curious to see what becomes of him, b/c he’s very small and definitely has a style of his own.

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by Cory Lavalette on Mar 19, 2009 10:37 AM EDT up reply actions

I saw him play in Belleville while on a business trip the winter before we drafted him. He was the difference maker in that game and I was very excited to see us grab him in the draft. Leighton better watch his back. I could see him pushing Leighton out of a contract extension summer 2010.

by rollcage on Mar 19, 2009 3:52 PM EDT reply actions