Connor Murphy, with Stan Bowman still working through Edmonton's coaching file, is back in the middle of a real Oilers summer decision.
The push came from a new report relayed by Mark Spector: Edmonton is still looking at bringing Murphy back, and the coaching hire is not the primary factor in that file.
That matters because this is not some depth rumor tossed onto the pile. Bowman already paid a 2028 second-round pick to get Murphy at the deadline, and Chicago retained 50 percent of his 4.4 million contract to make it work.
When a general manager spends that kind of asset on a veteran right-shot defender, then keeps talking after the season, it tells you the player filled a need the club still sees on its blue line.
Murphy gave Edmonton a steady look right away. He finished 2025-26 with 80 games, 17 points, and a six-game playoff run that produced 3 points and a plus-3 rating.
That is why this feels bigger than a routine UFA check-in. Murphy can hit the market, but the Oilers are still on him hard enough that the talks are being described as ongoing, not casual.
The subtext matters too. Spector's wording said Bowman has been working this market beneath the coaching noise and the Darnell Nurse chatter, which makes Murphy look like part of a larger blue-line plan.
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What Stan Bowman is reportedly planning next could surprise Oilers fans
That is the strongest angle here. Edmonton is not waiting for every other file to clear before acting on Murphy, and that says a lot about how the front office values him.
Murphy also brings a profile contenders keep chasing in July. He is 6-foot-4, shoots right, and over 825 career games he has built a reputation around hard defensive minutes, blocked shots, and box-out work around the crease.
That fit becomes even more important if Edmonton makes another change on the back end. The Oilers do not need more chaos there. They need minutes they can trust. That is where Murphy still makes sense.
There is risk, of course, because he is 33 and free agency always gives a player leverage. But this no longer looks like Edmonton hoping a useful rental sticks around on a discount. It looks like Bowman trying to finish unfinished business.
And that is why this lands as a positive development for the Oilers. Amid all the noise around the bench and the rest of the roster, Connor Murphy still looks like a player Edmonton does not want to lose.
Should the Oilers make Connor Murphy a priority signing this summer?
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