Carolina Hurricanes Select Ryan Murphy at #12
by Bob Wage on Jun 24, 2011 9:43 PM EDT
in 2011 NHL Entry Draft
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St Paul, MN The Carolina Hurricanes drafted star defenseman Ryan Murphy of the Kitchener Rangers with their first overall pick in this year's draft. The Canes were a bit surprised that the highly rated blueliner fell out of the top 10, but felt like they had to pick the best player left on their list. Murphy is an offensive dynamo and scored 79 points, (26G 53A) in 63 games for the Rangers this past season.
The former teammate of Jeff Skinner was pleased to be going to Carolina.
"I know that Jeff Skinner really loves it there, so hopefully I will too", said the latest Hurricane.
The question about the defenseman is that he might be a bit small, but the 5'11 blueliner is fast as lightning and quick on his skates. Skinner had this to say about his former teammate two days ago.
"With Murphy, the tools he has are unique to anyone that I remember playing against in the OHL. He's so quick on his skates, quick and shifty. There's a knock on him that he's too small, but then he always seems to beat the guy out of the corner, or somehow comes out with the puck, he's a talented, talented guy."
From the CSS scouting report, his coach in Kitchener, Steve Spott, had the following to say:
"He’s got to make people think, because I’ll tell you what — he’s different," Rangers’ head coach and general manager Steve Spott said. "He’s like no one else in this league. You can’t get to him, you can’t hit him. He’s a kid that’s slippery, his vision is second to none, his hockey sense is second to none."
"He can skate and he’s got a rocket. He’s got all the intangibles to be an all-star not only in this league, but the National Hockey League."
Murphy was also named top defenseman in the U-18 World Championships in Germany and scored 13 points, (4g 9A) in just seven games.
Cory has some audio of what Jim Rutherford and Murphy had to say at this link.
Here is some video of his press conference:
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darn i was hoping the bruins would get him
solid pick
You know how I said my profile pic would always be an animal? well, Chara's a BEAST!
Can’t cry about Dougie Hamilton….
We can all thank Winnipeg for throwing everybody off with a questionable pick. The Canes also have Colorado to thank who didn’t believe enough in Murphy and went for Siemens instead.
Steal of the Draft went to the Canes… Again.
Somebody up there must like the Canes. Adding elite talents last year at 7 and this year at 12 is a coup. With Staal, Skinner and Ward, Murphy makes four elite players on this small-market budget team.
The challenge now is making the pieces fit. There’s a desperate need for size at both ends and it would be nice to add a good young shut-down D before Dumoulin and the rest of the crop mature.
by curiouscanesfan on Jun 25, 2011 10:21 AM EDT up reply actions
im happy with ours too
but id trade with u guys
You know how I said my profile pic would always be an animal? well, Chara's a BEAST!
some quotes from Red Line Report:
Quintessential high-risk, high reward blueliner is the most dynamic offensive threat in this draft group. Jet-powered skater is dynamite with the puck on his stick. Just explodes out of the zone. Can go coast-to-coast almost at will with great speed, acceleration, and slick moves. Can make eye-popping moves at top speed. Has better hands than 90% of forwards in draft. Ultra elusive, can dangle and slide laterally to avoid getting hit as well a anyone.
Lacks size and strength and is not great positionally or in his awareness in defensive end. Struggles to contain bigger forwards down low.
Has quick stick that he gets into passing lanes. Tremendous in transition, going from defense to offense in a heartbeat. Will never sit back and wait for the game to come to him, always wants to be pushing the pace offensively. Reckless and undisciplined at times, but a huge playmaker.
One of the only blueliners out there who can bring fans out of their seats.
Editing Manager of Canes Country.com
I expressed a little concern the other day of whether Maurice is really the type of coach to let Murphy range at free will like he really needs to. Especially with all our talk of becoming a more defensive shell team. Murphy himself said he hopes the Canes can better him without changing him.
My hopes are JR tells Mo to keep his slimy hands off him like he did with Skinner and live with what happens.
Good point. The Canes have built up a lot of talent that seems all wrong for the way PM has coached to this point in his career. How long will it take before PM begs JR to send Murphy back to junior and Boychuk to the ends of the earth? There are coaches in this league who could do a lot with players like that but there’s no sign in PM’s long career that he’s one of them.
by curiouscanesfan on Jun 25, 2011 10:24 AM EDT up reply actions
LOL, I pray your right
Maurice s terrible , I can’t see him lasting much past next season.
by Holty_Panthers_Fan on Jun 25, 2011 11:01 AM EDT up reply actions
But this also means that our defensive is still extremely weak, and if Murphy is going to be NHL ready next season, that would mean we already have 6 defensemen, plus the inevitable signing of Joslin which will make 7. A free agent defenseman would make that number 8, which is excessive for this team obviously. So my guess is that any defenseman acquired would be through trade.
With Corvo going the other way, if they really expect Murphy to make the team. Corvo should have a good bit of trade value, very cheap Cap-wise for a 40+ point D. We should hang on to Gleason and Allen for their shutdown presence and a 2-way guy. Projected lineup:
Gleason – (2-way top-4 addition)
Allen – Murphy
McBain – Joslin
Harrison
Looks a lot better than it did a few days ago.
Definitely. I could live with that lineup. But of course, this all depends on whether Murphy will be NHL ready next season or not. He seems dedicated to doing so, but it would definitiely be a risk.
I wonder if bringing in Murphy makes one of McBain, Dumoulin, or Faulk more available if the price was right (such as a top-line huge power forward). We are stacked on offensive D, while before yesterday I would have said all of these guys were untouchable I can imagine they might be had now for a fitting return.
More depth now on D than at forward?
Funny how different one elite talent can make things look. Suddenly the long-term defensive depth looks outstanding. With Murphy, Faulk, McBain and Sanguinetti as young puck movers and Corvo as a veteran, there’s suddenly an embarrassment of riches. In a year or so, things may look almost as strong for shutdown D with some combination of a rebounding Gleason, Dumoulin, Alt and Levy. There’s more talent to fit in with Biega and depth with Jordan, Rissanen, etc.
The forward prospects are still the same fairly deep pool where the big question is whether any of them can approach star level. Dalpe and perhaps Boychuk may have a shot. Bowman and Nash are probably a tier below. Then come guys like Terry and Shugg who may or may not turn into NHL players and several potential NHL role players.
You can now debate whether organizational depth is greater at forward or on D. Funny how different adding Murphy makes things look.
The need for some big guys at both ends of the ice is greater than ever. The Canes can afford to trade a puck-moving defenseman. If they can’t figure out what to do with Boychuk, the Canes could put together a pretty substantial trade package with, say, Sanguinetti, Boychuk and next year’s 2nd round picks. Maybe the Canes can convert some of the current assets into an outstanding big forward prospect or young shutdown D.
by curiouscanesfan on Jun 25, 2011 10:16 AM EDT reply actions
The Canes can make some nice grabs today. Guys like Scott Mayfield, David Musil, Ryan Sproul, David Yuen, Ty Rattie, Boone Jenner, Brandon Saad, and Adam Lowry would all be solid pickups and future NHLers.
I also see a trade going down and a physical two-way D-man coming to the Canes now that we know what we need. I have a feeling JR might have been waiting to see what fell to us before pulling the trigger on deals.
I have a feeling a lot of the big forwards remaining are going to disappear before the Canes pick at 42. The best players still on the board may be the defensemen you listed and smaller faster types like Grimaldi and Cantenacci. I’m not sure how much it will help the Canes to add Mayfield, Musil or Sproul to the current pool of D prospects.
Here’s hoping the Canes think highly of one big forward who’s still on the board.
by curiouscanesfan on Jun 25, 2011 10:36 AM EDT up reply actions
Picking up Rask in the 2nd round means that we still have a good group of foward prospects. That is, if the prospects pan out.
by hockeythoughts on Jun 26, 2011 9:59 AM EDT up reply actions
Just curious...
I’ve only been following the Canes and hockey in general for about two years so this question comes out of complete ignorance. I very much believe Murphy will be fine and will be able to physically handle the defensive responsibilities of the NHL. But if he can’t, a lot of the scouting reports rate his skill level favorably with the forwards available. Just wondering how often a defensive player might be approached about playing forward at the next level or the other way around. I know that Dustin Byfuglien has played both at the NHL level (although a completely different player size-wise). How common is that at the NHL level? My question is less about whether Murphy might eventually be asked to switch position and more about how often players are asked to switch positions.
And that's another Hurricane's goal! WOOOOOOOO!
It is definitely extremely uncommon. It doesn’t usually happen because most players have been playing at a certain position for most of their playing careers and so they have gained a lot of experience in that role and many of the actions and responsibilities become second-nature. I don’t think we will see that with Murphy.
Didn’t Scott Walker start as a Defenseman? I may be misremembering.
Twitter @HMof2
by Carolyn Christians on Jun 25, 2011 1:28 PM EDT up reply actions
I’m sure the Canes are a little upset that Plymout Whalers Rickard Rakell, Stefan Noesen, and J.T. Miller (future Whaler) were all snapped up in the 1st Round. They need their quota, who will it be this year? Maybe goalie Matt Mahalak in the 4th-5th Round?
There has been a lot of player movement (Defensemen making up a lot of them)… I hope JR has been working the phones trying to get in on these deals. Troy Brouwer would have been a sweet pickup for size and grit, sad to see him get by us. Regehr would have been an ideal match as well, pure stay-at-home veteran.
Zach Yuen
I really hope the Canes can pick up Zach Yuen in the 3rd Round. A very solid, defensively reponsible, hard-working kid who has one of the highest plus/minus numbers among D in the Draft (+44). Leadership qualities and a great attitude. Former figure skater as well (solid skater, great with his edges and agility, etc.)
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