EDMONTON, Alberta — Former Blackhawks stalwarts Connor Murphy and Jason Dickinson are currently enjoying something they haven’t experienced in a long time: Winning.
The Oilers went 9-4-1 in March, including 8-4-1 once Murphy and Dickinson joined their lineup. Remarkably, that was Murphy’s winningest month since December 2019.
That’s right: the Hawks haven’t won eight games in a single calendar month in over six years.
So neither Murphy nor Dickinson can deny that it’s fun to be on the top side of the often frustratingly stagnant NHL hierarchy after spending so long on the bottom. There’s something to be said for instant gratification.
“Winning feels so good,” Murphy said Thursday. “Losing is very hard. Over the years in Chicago, it eats at you, having a lot of losses. After a while, you’re quick to question yourself and your team and your game and what needs to change.
“[When you] put together an effort that you think is worthy of a win and then you’re able to get that result, it definitely feeds confidence.”
Both veterans were exemplary teammates during their lengthy Chicago tenures, never letting their frustrations affect themselves or others. Murphy explained Thursday he was always focused on making the most out of whatever they had.
And they understood why the Hawks’ situation was the way it was. They weren’t ignorant to the empty cupboard that general manager Kyle Davidson inherited in 2022 from Stan Bowman, now their GM in Edmonton. Davidson also kept them, as alternate captains, loosely in the loop about his rebuilding strategy and plans.
“You’ve got to accept that sometimes [when] you invest heavily into a generation, the next generation is going to suffer for it,” Dickinson said. “I don’t know if there’s a way to work around it. Some teams have tried to go with retool after retool and find no success. It [becomes] a constant cycle of being a middling team that doesn’t end up doing anything important.
“Is that worth it for the fan base to have a group that just goes out there and plays good hockey forever? Or do you want to see some years of exceptional games and fantastic runs that really create the memories and legacy of an organization?”
In a few years, too, the Oilers’ outlook may look as bleak as the Hawks’ outlook used to be. Bowman is doing what he does, consistently trading picks for prime-aged players, and that approach will eventually exhaust the basin.
Even acquiring Murphy and Dickinson cost a pretty penny, with the Hawks receiving first- and second-round picks in exchange. The Oilers have of the league’s worst prospect pools and now own only three picks in the first four rounds of the 2026 and 2027 drafts combined.
For a franchise with just two guaranteed years of Connor McDavid left, however, it makes sense to be going all-in every year.
The Oilers haven’t been as dominant overall this season as in the last four, but the Pacific Division’s ineptitude offers them a relatively straightforward path back to the Western Conference Final, at the least.
Besides, Murphy and Dickinson aren’t thinking much about the future (especially as pending free agents). They’ve waited years for a bite at the playoff apple, and they plan to make it count.
“Every day, I’ve just tried to take [things] as serious and focused as I can, knowing the end goal — to get to the playoffs and push for a run — will be a dream come true,” Murphy said.
Said Dickinson: “This is the best time of the year, and for it to be meaningful and matter is huge. The last few years, I’ve spent it just counting down the days, waiting for summer to start, knowing that it was back to the gym…to prepare for the next season. Now it’s [time to] start preparing for the next chapter of the season.”
Perfect fits
People in and around the Oilers organization raved Thursday about how effectively Murphy and Dickinson have rounded out the roster and improved the team’s defense.
“We wanted to get better defensively, and we have gotten better defensively,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “We added two very detailed defensive players, Dickinson and Murphy, who are playing a lot of minutes for us against key matchups. Part of it is player personnel. Those two have really solidified our identity of how we want to play.”
Both Murphy and Dickinson knew trades were coming, but the fact they had never been traded mid-season before nonetheless led to a jarring transition.
“You just jump into a group that’s already playing and they’ve already got all their systems in place,” Dickinson said. “You’re not trying to figure it out together. I’m jumping right into the fire.”
They’ve since settled in, though. Murphy has formed a shutdown pairing with Darnell Nurse, helping Nurse stabilize his game, while Dickinson has assumed a familiar role as a checking center alongside Adam Henrique.
Before the trades, the Oilers ranked 23rd in the NHL in scoring chances allowed per minute of five-on-five play. Since the trades (entering Thursday), they rank eighth.
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