Buffalo Sabres general manager Jarmo Kekalainen will be looking to upgrade the team's defense corps ahead of the 2026 NHL trade deadline, and one potential solution may be a longtime member of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Max Bultman and Harman Dayal of The Athletic named Hawks defenseman Connor Murphy as a "perfect fit" for the Sabres to add over the next few weeks. They project it would cost Buffalo a second-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft.
"This certainly would fall into the 'less splashy' category, but for a Buffalo team that's already headed in the right direction, a targeted addition to fortify defensive depth could be exactly what they need," Bultman and Dayal wrote on Tuesday.
Murphy, who's played for Chicago since 2017 after beginning his NHL career with the then-Phoenix Coyotes, has recorded 12 points (four goals and eight assists) along with 84 blocked shots, 55 hits and 46 penalty minutes in 57 games this season.
The Sabres already traded their 2026 second-round selection as part of the blockbuster Josh Norris-Dylan Cozens swap last year, which is why the pick in the mock trade is for 2027.
Chicago Blackhawks' Connor Murphy checks all the boxes as a Buffalo Sabres trade target
The Sabres went big-game hunting earlier in the season when they checked on the availability of superstar defenseman Quinn Hughes, who was ultimately traded from the Vancouver Canucks to the Minnesota Wild.
Buffalo's targets ahead of the deadline likely won't be on the same level as Hughes.
Instead, the Blue and Gold will likely be in the market for a defensive-minded blueliner who will come at a far lower acquisition cost. Any blockbuster deals probably won't happen until the offseason when Kekalainen will have a clearer salary-cap picture after the Alex Tuch saga is settled.
That's why Murphy makes a ton of sense. He's in the final season of a four-year contract, meaning there's zero financial commitment beyond 2025-26, and they'll only have to cover the prorated remaining portion of his $4.4 million cap hit for the current campaign.
On the ice, the 32-year-old Boston native is a defensive-minded player who brings a physical edge at 6-foot-4, 212 pounds. He'd also bring a touch of playoff experience, having skated in nine postseason games with the Blackhawks in 2020.
Murphy would represent a significant upgrade over Jacob Bryson and Zach Metsa, who've tried to fill the void while Michael Kesselring and Conor Timmins each missed extended stretches while recovering from injuries this season.
Kesselring has returned, and likely benefited from the league's three-week break for the 2026 Winter Olympics, but Timmins is still sidelined.
Getting more stability from the third pair would provide a boost for Buffalo, which leaned extremely heavily on its top-four defense group of Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Bowen Byram and Mattias Samuelsson leading up to the Olympic hiatus. That quartet started to show some signs of fatigue as the team lost three of its final four games before the break, though.
Murphy would bring a battle-tested veteran into the equation. He's capable of playing on the third pair or moving up to the second pair if head coach Lindy Ruff wants to try spreading out some of his defensive talent. A Power-Murphy tandem could be effective.
Ultimately, whether it's Murphy or a similarly experienced defenseman, Kekalainen should be aggressive in his pursuit of a defensive addition before the deadline.
The Sabres have a golden opportunity to finally bring a long-awaited end to their postseason drought. They don't want to fall one or two roster pieces short of that goal.