Blue Jackets Have Been Discussing Trades Involving Ryan Murray

Blue Jackets defenseman Ryan Murray has been in the rumor mill for several years now and it doesn’t appear like that will be changing anytime soon.  In an appearance on TSN 1050 (audio link), TSN’s Darren Dreger noted that Murray has been involved in multiple trade discussions in recent months.

Earlier this season, Dreger reports that Murray was part of the ongoing trade talks with Colorado regarding center Matt Duchene.  Obviously, the two sides weren’t able to work out an agreement and Duchene was later dealt to Ottawa.

Going back to the draft in June, Dreger suggests that at that time, Columbus was willing to accept a “top pick” in exchange for Murray.  Exactly how early in the draft that was wasn’t disclosed but it shows that moving on from the second overall pick in 2012 is something that has been seriously considered.

While nothing materialized in either of those cases, it was reported a couple of weeks ago that GM Jarmo Kekalainen is ready to move one of their blueliners with the target still being a top-six center.  With players like Seth Jones and Zach Werenski clearly not going anywhere and others like Gabriel Carlsson not having enough experience to command a return like that, there aren’t many options that could realistically be in play beyond Murray.  David Savard has struggled this season while Jack Johnson is a pending unrestricted free agent so neither of them will likely bring a top-six pivot back either.

That leaves Murray, who is in the final year of his contract that carries a $2.825MM cap hit which also doubles as his qualifying offer in June.  While he may not be able to live up to his draft billing, he has shown himself to be a capable top-four defender who can be used in a shutdown role.  Whether that’s good enough to be the centerpiece of a trade to get that desired center remains to be seen but it certainly appears that Murray will continue to be in trade speculation for the foreseeable future.